This is my first time posting although I have been reading threads since I got my first flock of chickens 4 months ago.
I have a 5-6 month old sex-linked chicken, named Pectin, who suddenly started limping. I did not observe what happened to make her start limping. The roosts are only 2 feet off the ground. I use a good amount of sand in their pen. She is high up in the pecking order, so she is not likely to get pecked on. Either way, the damage has been done.
She started limping 4 days ago. I checked her out when it first happened. Could not feel any obvious breaks, no swelling, no bruising, no bleeding, and not a scale out of place on either leg. She has been resting a lot, but still getting up for treats, food, and water. She still goes into the coop at night on her own. She is hopping around on one leg, using her wings to compensate her balance (flapping wings, not dragging them), and then she will put her other leg down without putting weight on it.
Last night I was reading about ruptured tendons, torn ligaments, dislocated joints. I went to see if I could feel any masses on any part of her leg to indicate a ruptured tendon...nothing. I was able to move the leg, touch every part without any indications of pain. She can even wrap her toes around my finger. The only thing I observed is that her injured leg is much smaller than the leg she uses to hop around. Could she atrophy her muscles in her injured leg that quickly? Maybe she has been compensating for a defect in that leg for a long time, which might have caused the other to be so muscular? I spend a lot of time with the chickens and had not observed anything unusual about her legs or gait until she started limping.
She was pecked on (missing feathers on her back) when we bought her around 2-3 months ago. She grew back her feathers nicely and just about doubled in size since we purchased her. She is not laying yet. I feed them laying pellets and crumbles supplemented with chicken scratch. They get meal worms as treats every day. They have grit and oyster shell in a separate bowl (although I rarely observe them eating it). Recently I added some Omega Fields
Omega Ultra Egg mixed in their normal rations.
Currently, I have her in a dog kennel that I've place in the pen with the other chickens. I put some electrolytes (which contain some B12) in her water and have left her a bowl of food as well.
Has anyone encountered a problem like this before? I'm curious as to why that one leg is so much smaller. Also, is there anything else I could do to help her out?
P.S.: Does anyone know of any chicken vets in or around Baton Rouge, Louisiana? LSU vet school will not see chickens...already tried that with a case of avian pox.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!! Please let me know if I have left out any other vital information.
I have a 5-6 month old sex-linked chicken, named Pectin, who suddenly started limping. I did not observe what happened to make her start limping. The roosts are only 2 feet off the ground. I use a good amount of sand in their pen. She is high up in the pecking order, so she is not likely to get pecked on. Either way, the damage has been done.
She started limping 4 days ago. I checked her out when it first happened. Could not feel any obvious breaks, no swelling, no bruising, no bleeding, and not a scale out of place on either leg. She has been resting a lot, but still getting up for treats, food, and water. She still goes into the coop at night on her own. She is hopping around on one leg, using her wings to compensate her balance (flapping wings, not dragging them), and then she will put her other leg down without putting weight on it.
Last night I was reading about ruptured tendons, torn ligaments, dislocated joints. I went to see if I could feel any masses on any part of her leg to indicate a ruptured tendon...nothing. I was able to move the leg, touch every part without any indications of pain. She can even wrap her toes around my finger. The only thing I observed is that her injured leg is much smaller than the leg she uses to hop around. Could she atrophy her muscles in her injured leg that quickly? Maybe she has been compensating for a defect in that leg for a long time, which might have caused the other to be so muscular? I spend a lot of time with the chickens and had not observed anything unusual about her legs or gait until she started limping.
She was pecked on (missing feathers on her back) when we bought her around 2-3 months ago. She grew back her feathers nicely and just about doubled in size since we purchased her. She is not laying yet. I feed them laying pellets and crumbles supplemented with chicken scratch. They get meal worms as treats every day. They have grit and oyster shell in a separate bowl (although I rarely observe them eating it). Recently I added some Omega Fields
Omega Ultra Egg mixed in their normal rations.Currently, I have her in a dog kennel that I've place in the pen with the other chickens. I put some electrolytes (which contain some B12) in her water and have left her a bowl of food as well.
Has anyone encountered a problem like this before? I'm curious as to why that one leg is so much smaller. Also, is there anything else I could do to help her out?
P.S.: Does anyone know of any chicken vets in or around Baton Rouge, Louisiana? LSU vet school will not see chickens...already tried that with a case of avian pox.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!! Please let me know if I have left out any other vital information.
