Limping chicken

[Sandra Verbreyt]

I put my two chickens away last night in the coop and both where fine. However this morning when I opened the door only Margot came out. I thought maybe Babs was being broody and so afteer a few hours I went to lift her out. I put her on the grass but she does not want to walk. She is eating and drinking but will not walk. She took a few steps and flayed one of her wings out each time she took a step. I have left her in the garden near food and water but she will stand up but does not seem to be taking any steps. My other chicken Margot is being very protective.
Has anybody got any idea as to what is wrong with our Babs and what can I do for her?

 

[azygous]

Since this came on suddenly, I would suspect an exposure to a neuro toxin. You need to sleuth around the garden where your chickens were yesterday and look carefully for sources of any petroleum distillates - insecticides, peeling paint, machinery leaking fluids onto the soil, or places where paint thinner may have been dumped after cleaning paint brushes.

Other sources of neuro toxins are rotting vegetation, poisonous mushrooms, toxic berries or leaves, and even moldy feed. A bird feeder with spilled seeds on the ground that have gone moldy can be a source of woe.

Of course, there are other organic causes of lameness, but they tend to manifest gradually, not suddenly.

You can try vitamin B complex and vitamin E to try to repair damage to the nervous system, but there's only a small possibility that it will work.

There is also a chance your chickens have been exposed to an avian virus. Many of them cause symptoms that include lameness.

 

[thudson]

I put my two chickens away last night in the coop and both where fine. However this morning when I opened the door only Margot came out. I thought maybe Babs was being broody and so afteer a few hours I went to lift her out. I put her on the grass but she does not want to walk. She is eating and drinking but will not walk. She took a few steps and flayed one of her wings out each time she took a step. I have left her in the garden near food and water but she will stand up but does not seem to be taking any steps. My other chicken Margot is being very protective.
Has anybody got any idea as to what is wrong with our Babs and what can I do for her?

Check her feet. It sounds like she may have Bumblefoot. It is an infection on the bottom side of her foot. You will see a very swollen spot on the bottom and it is very uncomfortable for her to walk. I would isolate her so she don't have to walk and clean the infected foot. Give her plenty of fresh water. The treatment for Bumblefoot is
1. Cleaning the infected foot
2 oral antibiotics
3 topical antibiotics
4 maybe a bandage to keep clean
If it is not treated it can lead to serious complications and even worse. That is if that is the problem. So good luck and I hope this helps and she gets better!

 

[aart]

Duplicate thread here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/limping-chicken.1219623/