Limping hen, but I can't see any cause. Need advice.

GumBranchChick

Songster
Nov 29, 2016
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106
Elberta, AL
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Hello! I have a barred rock hen that's about 7 months old who has been limping the last couple of days. I took a quick look at both feet and legs (as well as she would let me without a second set of helping hands being home) & I don't see anything unusual, except for one little dark spot that she didn't seem to mind me touching. Granted I didn't touch it for long. I don't think it's always been there but I will go back and look at old photos to be sure. Right foot, middle toe. Bottom of her foot still feels soft & looks healthy to me. Still acting normal other than the limping. Very healthy appetite! They are free range a lot, in a fenced in area. Typically no less than 3-4 hours, sometimes dawn to dusk. Spend a lot of the heat of the day in a little wooded section of the yard so my gut says musculoskeletal, but wanted to get opinions. The flock is currently being treated for roundworms for the second (recent) time around with fenbendazole, so someone's poop is still a little unusual but I attributed it to the treatment. They were also treated with the same thing about 3 months ago.
If I've left out any information you need please ask & I'll do whatever I can. She is a doll! Love her so much! She was my pecked/injured rescue baby and I've had her since one week old. The other two hens & the rooster were in the same clutch as her, but I got them about a month later when my Little Bit was feeling better.
I tried to attach a picture to this post. Have had a very hard time trying to figure out the new look of this website. ☺️ If it doesn't work, let me know.
Thanks a million!
 

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I've had them limp from jumping off of something.

If she's eating, drinking, pooping fine...her feet look okay to me (just make sure that one dark, dirty place doesn't have any bump in it for bumblefoot).

Watch her is all you can do at this point.

Of course, the illness that leaps to mind is Marek's, but at this point, you can't do anything about that but watch and wait. The others have already been exposed.

Hopefully she just jumped hard on it. She should resolve within a week or so.
LofMc
 
Thank you!! I sent a picture to my vet & he came to the same conclusion you & I did. She is my rooster's favorite girl, hands down. So I assume she could have been running from him also. ;) Seems like being kept in their coop/run might have helped. A little better today if I'm not imagining it.
 
I have three hens that are limping all of a sudden... they don't appear to be ill either. Please update me on what you find out. thanks
 
I've tried but it is too large. I tried to edit it down but it still says that. :( I do have a video of it though.
Update: I finally got it small enough & now it says the extension is not allowed. :(
 
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I have three hens that are limping all of a sudden... they don't appear to be ill either. Please update me on what you find out. thanks

Hi
How old are your 3 lame hens? Lameness is one of the more common symptoms of Marek's disease and several young birds suddenly going lame in a short space of time is a real red flag alert for it. Unfortunately there is no recognised treatment for Marek's and their otherwise good health most likely will not last. I hope I am wrong.
If you think it is Marek's, there is a lot of information about it on this forum if you use the search bar, but if you have any specific questions or something you want to clarify, just ask as there are quite a lot of us who have been dealing with it for a few years.

Best wishes

Barbara
 
Can you post a video?

Is there a good way to get a video to you since the forum won't allow the .MOV extension? All the others seem fine still. I think I'm going to have to separate my rooster. She seems to limp a little bit harder after he jumps on her. The dark scale on her foot doesn't feel any different from the others. I do think that she was built a little bit funny. Her wings are not normal and the end feathers stick out towards her back when they're tucked under. Which is why I think the mom must have been picking at her so badly when she was little. She knew something was off.
 
Is there a good way to get a video to you since the forum won't allow the .MOV extension? All the others seem fine still. I think I'm going to have to separate my rooster. She seems to limp a little bit harder after he jumps on her. The dark scale on her foot doesn't feel any different from the others. I do think that she was built a little bit funny. Her wings are not normal and the end feathers stick out towards her back when they're tucked under. Which is why I think the mom must have been picking at her so badly when she was little. She knew something was off.
You can upload to YouTube or Vimeo and then paste that link here.
 
I have three hens that are limping all of a sudden... they don't appear to be ill either. Please update me on what you find out. thanks

One hen limping in a flock isn't good, but can be accounted for by leg injury if all else is well and she seems to improve with a little time and rest.

Three hens suddenly limping at the same time is much more significant. That indicates a toxin or Marek's. I agree with @rebrascora to review the link she gave you for Marek's and Marek imitators (including botulism).

I find that with leg injury they tend to put it down and then pick it up while standing and limp while walking. With Marek's (which I didn't have tested in this one bird but suspicion strongly), it was more of a paralysis and weakness overall.

Sadly you can't do much except read about Marek's, isolate birds that appear affected (although they have already exposed the rest of the flock), and hope with some time and TLC they fight it off, which can definitely happen. Birds can survive. Some do well until old age, others seem less thrifty and succumb to it in another year or so.

But it is important to know what you are dealing with because if it is something like a toxin or nutritional deficiency, that is very fixable.

Wishing your flock the best.
LofMc
 

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