Limping hen with poopy bottom

[julietma]

My hen, Tep-tep, started limping yesterday morning. She seems to have pain (on palpitation) in her right knee. Should I just keep an eye on her for a few days to see if it goes away? Or is there something else I should worry about? She is a Plymouth Barred Rock, about six months old. We put a new door on the hen house last weekend, and I wonder if maybe she got her leg stuck in it or something. I certainly didn't find her that way, but it's the only thing I can think of that might have caused her to hurt her leg.

The feathers on her butt are looking a little bit stuck together and poopy - is this what they mean by pasty butt? I cleaned her off with olive oil and gave all the chickens some plain yogurt.

How concerned do I need to be?

 

[kinnip]

How old is she? Adults shouldn't have pasty butt, though sometimes there's a dribble or two. If she has diarrhea, then I'd start looking for causes. It's possible that the leg injury impaired her ability to 'lift her skirts and squat', so she ended up with some cecal poo stuck to her hiney. I'd keep an eye out for other symptoms and for swelling in the leg. I have a hen who made a bad landing (she loves to fly) and hurt a toe. It took forever for that bugger to heal. She kept trying to get around on it. It finally hurt her badly enough that she sat down for a couple of days. Now, she's right as rain.

 

[julietma]

Thanks. I have tried to examine her leg and foot, and can't see a visible injury. She seems to be keeping the weight off it, so maybe it will heal. She's only about six months old, so too young to be hobbling around like this!

 

[kinnip]

I'd keep an eye on her, but wouldn't panic just yet. If you have a roo, try to keep him off of her. I think that exacerbated my girl's injury. If she just won't hold still, there's always a dog carrier.

 

[julietma]

Things are really not getting better. Now she can't take weight on either leg. She can't even hold herself up! When I set her down, even on pine shavings, she topples over. A wing goes out, but then she's stuck, face down, wing out, unable to right herself.

She was crying piteously on Tuesday, so I brought her inside. I figured the cold was bothering her. But she's no better indoors. I set her up in a big box with bedding, layer feed, water and some yogurt (which she normally LOVES). She didn't touch the yogurt. I gave her some raisins yesterday, and she did eat those. I think she's eating an occassional bite of feed, but this morning I moved it so she can reach it and the water without having to change position. She's really not well.

I left a message for the vet at an ag high school here in Chicago. Sadly it's report card pickup day so she won't be free to call back until tomorrow. I also called the poultry research dept. of the U of I extension service, and left a message. Now all I can do is fret, wait and hope.