Lame Chicken

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Give her another once-over for bruising now - it can take up to 3 days to really develop and it's hard to pick out injuries before then. Check her back and flanks thoroughly.
In your opinion, is she improving or getting worse? Chicken are very good at hiding their pain and when they can't, that's really saying something. Does she show signs of pain when being picked up or moved?
 
Lizzy733 said:
Give her another once-over for bruising now - it can take up to 3 days to really develop and it's hard to pick out injuries before then. Check her back and flanks thoroughly.
In your opinion, is she improving or getting worse? Chicken are very good at hiding their pain and when they can't, that's really saying something. Does she show signs of pain when being picked up or moved?
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No bruising or heat in the leg that I can see. She keeps the toes curled up unless I try and move her and then she will open them up, but she squaks and gets upset when I move her. She does seem much better though after I get her up and moving a bit and into the bath to soak a bit so I think it helps ease it a little bit. Usually she will eat right after I put her in the 1 gallon bucket for a bath. It provides enough support so she doesn't have to support herself but lets her get a good soak all over her legs and her bum for any poo that might be there.

I did trim her feathers on her hind end back so that I could make sure she stayed cleaner and checked over her leg really well. No real swelling on the unfeathered parts of the leg or injury. I checked up into her hip and it definitely made her uncomfortable but I didn't see anything that stood out. When she's resting she tends to lean on her left side and stretch her right leg out from under her a bit and she seems to do a lot of sleeping throughout the day. She will still eat her flockraiser and is drinking lots of water. I haven't tried any vitamins with her yet because other than the leg she was eating well. What vitamins would be a good idea to try? I am a little worried that giving her too much stuff will make her worse instead of better. So trying to be careful with what I do.
 
Getting upset when moved and checking the area means she's in pain and it may be constant. If the hip seems to be her most sensitive area, then that's probably where the injury lies. Is she able to put any weight on the lame side, even temporarily? Her trying to redistribute her weight to avoid the injury will eventually wear out the other side too, so be aware of that.
Is there a livestock, avian or exotics vet you could consult? At the least getting her on some anti-inflamatories and getting the injury physically inspected for a possible break or dislocation would be good.
 
She does move around some but it's with a fairly large limp. She doesn't do it often each day but will move from one area in the dog crate to another or to the feed and water from where she likes to lay. We have a livestock vet about 10 minutes away but they will not do poultry other than putting them down if it comes to that. There is a new vet that says they will look at backyard chickens and I can give her a call but starting fee is $175 before doing anything to the animal so it's fairly pricey.
 
I feel your pain; we had to put down a chick for a leg injury that wasn't improving and the whole ordeal was quite expensive. The extent of its injury combined with its age and growth rate ended up making the chance of recovery with or without expensive intervention unlikely, so the decision had to be made.
Just do remain aware of her comfort level as they can hide pain very well. Try the sling to get her hips aligned correctly and reduce the burden on her joints. Continue the epsom salt baths and see if the livestock vet can at the least provide some medication to help with any inflammation. Hopefully, you will see her comfort level start to improve.
 
Losing hope the injury is in her right hip and it's very stiff and not very moveable. She is in her little chair for a few hours a day so she can get up eat and move her legs around. She isn't getting worse but doesn't seem to be getting any better. She is getting B supplements but still not wanting to use her hip at all.
 
Sorry that she is not improving. We are seeing a lot of reports of Mareks disease here lately. If you decide to put her down I would consider getting a necropsy through your state vet to find out if it was a leg injury or possibly Mareks. Hopefully, it is not. Here is some contact info for most state vets:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm
 
Eggcessive said:
Sorry that she is not improving. We are seeing a lot of reports of Mareks disease here lately. If you decide to put her down I would consider getting a necropsy through your state vet to find out if it was a leg injury or possibly Mareks. Hopefully, it is not. Here is some contact info for most state vets:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm
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I had thought of that and was definitely planning on getting her checked hopefully the weather will cooperate for me to get her there.

All my other birds are acting normal. I have a chocolate mottled rooster from the same hatch and two blues and a lavender from other hatches all seem to be doing well. I am getting 3 eggs a day from the girls and the boy follows them out free ranging every day although he's not as much of a fan of the cold as they seem to be lol. I definitely want to know if it's something that can get them sick though for sure.
 
I’m sorry Lily I know how excited you’ve been for the orpingtons, I really hate to see you lose one. I bet these are the batch I watched hatch!

:hugs

young boys are awful. I had one injure a heavier bird trying to mate her on the roost. She IS able to move around at a hobble and lays an egg in a ground level near box daily, but she won’t leave the coop area ever anymore and I’m trying to contemplate quality of life myself for her. I really held out hope for a miraculous recovery but there are slimming chances.

thank you for doing all you could... I, also would put myself in your care in a second!
 

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