Limping Gal

mmartis13

In the Brooder
5 Years
Nov 17, 2014
18
1
31
Phoenix, AZ
I have a Silver laced Wyandotte, about 6-8 months old who recently started limping. I went out in the coop one day and she was dragging her left foot, and her toes were all curled up. she was using her ankle as a kind of stump to walk with, and not using the foot at ALL. I picked her up and looked for signs of Bumblefoot, broken bones, toes, dislocated joints. I couldn't find ANYTHING. I left her in the coop, I assumed she had just hurt it somehow and would be fine. My Americauna did this last year and after about a week returned to normal. When nothing changed or improved after a day or two, I brought her in the house, set up a little nest for her in a large dog crate with water and food, and have left her indoors to rest it. I examine her everyday, she's been indoors now for 4 days, and there are still no signs of any break, bumblefoot, nothing. When i inspect her leg and foot it is totally limp, like it is paralyzed. She doesn't show any signs of pain or distress. She is eating and drinking and pooping pretty normally. I'm at a total loss. The only thing I can think of is possibly a severed tendon? Has anyone dealt with this before? Are there any suggestions for what could be going on or anything else I should be doing?
 
While an injury is possible, I would suspect that she could have curled toe paralysis, which may be a symptom of riboflavin (vitamin B2) deficiency, or possibly Mareks disease. Riboflavin deficiency may only be treated within a short time frame, before paralysis becomes permanent or worsens. Sometimes with Mareks disease there can be a spontaneous improvement in a hen showing paralysis, then later, the chicken may develop lymphatic tumors from the disease. Did your chickens receive Mareks vaccines? I would go ahead and get some poultry vitamins started right away in the water. The B vitamins are most important, and until you get poultry vitamins, B Complex, nutritional yeast, or baby vitamins can be given (Polyvisol without iron-3 drops daily.) Don't use Poultry Nutri-Drench vitamins, however, since they do not contain riboflavin. Hopefully it is just a vitamin deficiency. Here is some reading:
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/6/diseases-of-poultry/217/vitamin-b2-deficiency
http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/pou..._poultry/vitamin_deficiencies_in_poultry.html
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq
http://extension.unh.edu/resources/files/Resource000791_Rep813.pdf
 
Thank you! I'll get her some vitamins today and start her on that ASAP. I'm not sure if she was vaccinated for Marek's. I purchased her from a private chicken breeder I found on Craigslist, not the feed store where I typically have purchased hens in the past.I know at the feed store they vaccinated them when they are about a day old.
 
I just wanted to add to this post because I had a similar experience with a red laced silver Wyandotte. She is about the 6 months old, just started laying, and out of the blue...her toes went sideways and she was fumbling around like a drunk chicken! No inflammation or sign of bumble foot! So weird! Her feet were curling, she was eating and drinking, and the flock was leaving her alone. We added some vitamin drops to her water and within 48 hours, she was back to normal. I think it was a vitamin A deficiency because I remember seeing a tiny bit of blood in her egg. Hope this helps the next person! She is currently laying, healthy, and walking fine. Her toes still look slightly sideways (probably from trying to walk when she wasn't well), but other than that, she is great!
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom