Limping chick/laying down a lot - what could it be?

[kayla43]

I have a black australorp chick who is about 3 months old that has had issues walking/standing for periods of time. Her legs have been shaky for probably a month and a half, causing her to lay down more than the other chicks. Now over the last day or so, she has developed a limp (video attached). I am starting to worry about her and could use some help identifying if anything is seriously wrong!

Some additional info: I have examined her a couple times over the last month and there does not appear to be anything physically wrong with her feet or legs - her scales look normal, there is no swelling or redness visible and no cuts or abrasions that I have noticed. She eats, drinks and poops normally from what I have seen. She is social with the other chicks and in fact they seem almost protective of her when they are in the yard and she lays down. She will graze from a laying position while the others scratch around. We feed all our chicks the purina/dumor chick starter feed (believe it is 20% protein) and they receive grit as well. Small amounts of treats are provided daily, typically dried meal worms or a dried seed/corn mixture I bought at TSC. We keep them outdoors in a coop with pine shavings that has a small run and we’ve also fenced in an area of the yard attached to the run for extra space. No other chicks have displayed this behavior and overall they seem happy and healthy.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

No signs of injury under the wings?

I'd try vitamin therapy to see if they help. 400IU Vitamin E and 1/4 tablet B-Complex daily.
She has a little bit of a tremor going on, so Marek's comes to mind, but it would be really hard to know.
Do you have a vet that can run a fecal float to see if Coccidiosis is part of the problem. I know she's older, but sometimes a chick can have trouble with resistance.

 

[kayla43]

Thank you for the reply!! I will def try the vitamins! I have nutridrench, could I use that or should I crush up tablets and put in her food? I was supplementing their water with nutridrench for a couple weeks and I saw no improvement at that time so I stopped. She is not isolated and I’m hesitant to because they are all so close, but I will if recommended. I have also considered scheduling a vet appointment, I just wanted to make sure I’m not overreacting before I do! Lol

I will check her body over again today and try to get pics of the feet and wing area, though I think it’s just a bald spot. She was later to get her feathers than the rest. And yes it seems ever since she was about a month old or so, her legs have had a tremor, but she’s never had any kind of paralysis or issues moving her wings or stretching out, etc. I haven’t noticed any blood in any stool but on occasion I will see slightly runny poo. I bought corrid to have on hand but have not used it yet.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I will def try the vitamins! I have nutridrench, could I use that or should I crush up tablets and put in her food?

PND does not have enough Vitamin E and it doesn't contain any B2(Riboflavin), so this is why I recommended what I did.
She's old enough, you can just pop the pills directly into her beak one at a time and let her swallow. That's the easiest and ensures she's getting them.

I wouldn't separate her from the flock. If she's not getting bullied, then it's best to leave her. Separation would cause a lot of stress on her.

I'd try vitamin therapy to see if they help. 400IU Vitamin E and 1/4 tablet B-Complex daily.

 

[kayla43]

Sounds good I will do that, thank you again!

 

[kayla43]

I wanted to share an update with additional pics of her feet up close - I don’t see anything resembling bumblefoot but please let me know if I’m missing anything! The smaller/skinnier foot is the foot she is holding up/acting like it is hurt. The non-hurt foot definitely looks puffier but i think it actually looks more like my other chicks’ normal feet and not showing any lumps or swelling, but again let me know if you disagree. I felt up both legs entirely and all over her body and did not notice any obvious signs of injury. To be honest, if she fractured or pulled/twisted something I don’t know that I would be able to tell.

Any additional thoughts based on these photos is so appreciated!!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

So she's holding up the left foot? Yes she is, I'm relooking at your video.
But the "non hurt" foot is a bit puffier.

Is the left leg as a whole smaller? Colder? Joint smaller?

I'm not sure what's going on there.

 

[kayla43]

So she's holding up the left foot? Yes she is, I'm relooking at your video.
But the "non hurt" foot is a bit puffier.

Is the left leg as a whole smaller? Colder? Joint smaller?

I'm not sure what's going on there.

Yes exactly, it seems like the entire leg is a bit smaller than the “non hurt” one. I am going to treat with vitamins and we wrapped the “hurt” foot just to see if that would help her at all. So far she doesn’t seem to like the wrap but we will see if she gets used to it/whether it helps. If I don’t see improvement with vitamins then I will probably schedule a vet visit. Thank you again!!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Yes exactly, it seems like the entire leg is a bit smaller than the “non hurt” one. I am going to treat with vitamins and we wrapped the “hurt” foot just to see if that would help her at all. So far she doesn’t seem to like the wrap but we will see if she gets used to it/whether it helps. If I don’t see improvement with vitamins then I will probably schedule a vet visit. Thank you again!!

Please do let me know how she gets along.

 

[kayla43]

Please do let me know how she gets along.

Just a quick update here on this thread that may help others: I finally got this girl in to see a vet after her limp continued to progress over several more weeks. She stopped walking altogether earlier this week and therefore was not eating or drinking which was obviously concerning and really was the deciding factor in seeing a vet.

The vet determined that she has a slipped tendon in her leg, making it hard and painful to use. She can’t pinpoint the exact cause but said she doesn’t seem to be presenting with other Mareks symptoms so ruled that out. It could be related to a vitamin deficiency or from doing something to injure it (or perhaps both). She moved the tendon back into place and splinted/casted her leg to keep it from slipping back(picture attached). She will wear the cast for 2 weeks at least and we received some pain meds to administer for her 2x per day. We will continue with vitamins as well. We are hoping the tendon will heal and she will begin to gain the strength to walk normally again but it could be several weeks. Hoping to post an update in a while with her progress!