Limping hen

[tobit]

My cream legbar pullet started limping this morning. She seems healthy apart from limping and preferring not to walk. As far as I can tell she has no bumble foot, and when I feel higher up on her leg she doesn't react (which you might expect if she had swelling or a fracture etc). Any ideas what might be wrong with her?

 

[rebrascora]

If she is pacing in the small coup, put her back in where she is happiest. Pacing means she is stressed and if it is Marek's that will make her worse, If it is a sprain, the pacing will also aggravate it, so sounds like she may be best back in with her flock mates. You have to figure out what works best in your situation and set up.

I have to say, I am hopeful it may not be Marek's if she appears to be in pain. That's the only good thing about the disease.... they get frustrated with their inability to control their bodies but they never really seem to be in pain.

I can't advise on vitamins I'm afraid as I've never used them because I'm not convinced they work for Mareks and it's pretty clear that's what I have. If you want to try human vitamins get ones without iron. But feeding foods like scrambled eggs, fish and yoghurt will provide many essential vitamins and minerals as well as protein to support them through their illness.

 

[rebrascora]

My view is that most vets don't know as much about chickens as some of the more experienced people on this forum, so I'm loath to shell out serious money on advice/treatment that at best may be as good as info I can find here. If it is Marek's there is nothing they can do and taking her to the vets will stress her and make it worse. If it's a sprain, it will heal itself in time. If you feel that she is in pain, you could give her a quarter of an asprin.

Much as I love my chickens (some of them especially) I have nearly 50 and I couldn't justify spending £50-£100 every time one of them was sick. Small animal vets grossly over charge people in my opinion (I can only assume it's because people are emotionally attached to their pets.... to me there's an element of extortion in their pricing) and farm and horse vets are not interested in individual chickens.

Good to hear she is no worse and also hasn't suddenly improved. That also points towards it being mechanical damage to the leg rather than neurological. Keeping fingers crossed for her making a slow and steady recovery.

 

[Hholly]

It sounds like an injury. Hopefully it will heal with time.

 

[rebrascora]

Eggcellent news!

Wonder if that first egg was putting pressure on the sciatic nerve, a bit like pregnant ladies get sciatica.

 

[Hholly]

Lameness can be a sign of a number of diseases like Mycoplasma synoviae, Tenosynovitis, or Mareks. Or it could be a sprain or strain. Could she have hurt herself jumping off of something? I have a hen going through the same thing. I think my girl hurt herself jumping off the high roosts I had. So I lowered them. Watch for any other symptoms to develop. Hopefully she will heal up in a few weeks.

 

[azygous]

Sometimes leg injuries occur when a hen is trying to get on and off a roosting perch. You'll see signs of bruising on the shanks that look like green or blackish patches. This can be painful.

Baby aspirin can help alleviate the pain and it should solve the limping.

If the leg bone is fractured, though, it will probably keep getting worse.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi. How old is she and was she vaccinated for Marek's Disease when she hatched? Marek's is an extremely common virus in chickens which often shows initially as lameness or wing paralysis. It is a herpes type virus and outbreaks are often triggered by stress.... at this time of year it can be persistent attention from a rooster or just the hormone changes as they come into lay. It affects mostly birds under a year old. There are many other symptoms and some chickens die suddenly and without showing any real sign of illness, whilst others start with asymmetric paralysis of limbs or neck. Keeping them calm, happy, well fed and stress free is the best treatment in my experience.... as there is currently no accepted medical treatment. The bird may improve or even completely recover, but may succumb to a second or even third attack. It is a heart breaking disease and some forms are much more virulent than others. Thankfully my flock has a less aggressive strain but I have still lost a few birds to it..

Other possibilities are vitamin deficiency and it certainly can't do any harm to give her a vitamin supplement.

Good luck with her and the rest of your flock.

 

[tobit]

Lameness can be a sign of a number of diseases like Mycoplasma synoviae, Tenosynovitis, or Mareks. Or it could be a sprain or strain. Could she have hurt herself jumping off of something? I have a hen going through the same thing. I think my girl hurt herself jumping off the high roosts I had. So I lowered them. Watch for any other symptoms to develop. Hopefully she will heal up in a few weeks.

Hmm, would the symptoms for these diseases be lameness in one or both legs? Well our roosts are roughly 5 feet off the ground, would that be high enough to injure herself when jumping down in the morning?

Hi. How old is she and was she vaccinated for Marek's Disease when she hatched? Marek's is an extremely common virus in chickens which often shows initially as lameness or wing paralysis. It is a herpes type virus and outbreaks are often triggered by stress.... at this time of year it can be persistent attention from a rooster or just the hormone changes as they come into lay. It affects mostly birds under a year old. There are many other symptoms and some chickens die suddenly and without showing any real sign of illness, whilst others start with asymmetric paralysis of limbs or neck. Keeping them calm, happy, well fed and stress free is the best treatment in my experience.... as there is currently no accepted medical treatment. The bird may improve or even completely recover, but may succumb to a second or even third attack. It is a heart breaking disease and some forms are much more virulent than others. Thankfully my flock has a less aggressive strain but I have still lost a few birds to it..

Other possibilities are vitamin deficiency and it certainly can't do any harm to give her a vitamin supplement.

Good luck with her and the rest of your flock.

She hatched on the 4th july, so she is exactly 6 months old today! no she wasn't vaccinated - I hatched her out at home, I'm not familiar with marek's disease, how is it transmitted? Hmm she isn't particularly stressed, although we do have a cockerel (also 6 months old) with her and 3 other hens so maybe he is causing her stress due to overmating (she hasn't started laying, but I've seen her be mated several times)? I'm not sure where you are situated, but it is the "middle of winter" (very mild right now at 10 degrees centigrate) here, so I wouldn't expect any hens to come into lay? Okay thank you ever so much for the general information on marek's! I guess I will just have to monitor her condition. So if I understood correctly, there are no treatments available even if she had mareks, correct? If it is marek's, would the rest of my flock also have it?

 

[tobit]

Sometimes leg injuries occur when a hen is trying to get on and off a roosting perch. You'll see signs of bruising on the shanks that look like green or blackish patches. This can be painful.

Baby aspirin can help alleviate the pain and it should solve the limping.

If the leg bone is fractured, though, it will probably keep getting worse.

I couldn't see any bruising/dark patches on her shanks