Limping hen

[oliviajean]

My 6 month old hen started limping about 2 weeks ago and it just started off as her not putting much weight on one leg. She does not have any visible wounds. We monitored her for a few days and kept her in with the flock since she was doing fine otherwise, eating and flying up to roost at night, but she was laying around a lot. It seemed to be slowly getting worse and one time when we checked on her we saw she had a wound on her head. We treated that and separated her out to be isolated in our spare coop, because we assumed she had been pecked by another hen, and was also barely walking at this point and just scooting around and digging her nails into the ground.

She spent the night in a nesting box and when we checked in the morning she had laid her first egg. This was so surprising and I’m not sure if she was holding out due to stress now that she was away from the flock? We integrated 3 groups of 2 pairs of hens together this year but they have been doing fine together for a few months, with chasing/pecking here and there, but maybe the environment is too stressful? (She is a Cuckoo Maran so I know it can take a longer time for them to lay their first egg)

We have been giving her small doses of aspirin, adding pedialyte to water, and allowing her to rest away from the flock but she is not getting any better. She has also not laid another egg since (that was about 3 days ago) but has been pooping and eating though she does not have a big appetite. We also gave her an epsom salt path today, but I am really worried about her because it looks very painful when she tries to walk. She just kind of scoots around, uses her nails, and moves her wings. She is not able to stand on either of her legs. I’m not sure what’s going on with her or how to help. It also just started becoming cold where I live so I’m wondering if that could have anything to do with it. Any advice would be appreciated.

I attached a picture of her posture when sitting, she scoots around in this position when trying to walk.

 

[azygous]

Has your hen ever had and signs of a respiratory illness? Perhaps not currently, but when she was younger?

Do you have any machinery sitting in the vicinity that leak fluids onto the ground?

Have any other chickens in your flock ever had similar symptoms? Perhaps older chickens who later died?

What is the source for your flock? Hatchery chicks or private breeder or chicken swaps? Do you usually buy chicks or older chickens?

Where do you live?

 

[Debbie292d]

Have you tried any vitamin supplements like Poultry Cell in case she's suffering from a vitamin deficiency? Make sure she's got oyster shell too in case she's having reproductive issues.

 

[Eggcessive]

At her age, Mareks disease comes to mind. But I would start some human vitamin B complex tablets, 1/2 tablet daily given orally or crushed in some food, in case of a riboflavin deficiency. A chicken sling might be good for her if she will tolerate it to make it easier to eat and drink. She can have periods out of it to rest or sleep. Here are some links to read about Mareks:
https://vetmedbiosci.colostate.edu/vdl/colorado-avian-health-program/mareks-disease/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

 

[oliviajean]

Has your hen ever had and signs of a respiratory illness? Perhaps not currently, but when she was younger?

Do you have any machinery sitting in the vicinity that leak fluids onto the ground?

Have any other chickens in your flock ever had similar symptoms? Perhaps older chickens who later died?

What is the source for your flock? Hatchery chicks or private breeder or chicken swaps? Do you usually buy chicks or older chickens?

Where do you live?

I have never seen any signs of respiratory illness, she seems to have been perfectly fine up until this point.

We do not have any machinery on the ground either, but there is a dryer vent somewhat close to the run.

None of our other chickens have had symptoms like this, except for one other time another chicken had a limp in one foot which resolved itself in a few days.

The six chickens we have now are the first we have had. We started off with 2 hens that we raised from chicks last spring, then raised 2 groups of 2 chicks this year to add. We got them a month or two apart so that’s why we did not raise the 4 together. We waited until they were all pretty much fully grown to integrate them in the same coop, and they had lots of yard time together before doing so, but it was still a hard transition and there was lots of chasing and pecking behavior by the original 2 hens.

We got all our chickens as chicks from farm and fleet. We live in southern Wisconsin.

I checked on juniper (the sick chicken) this morning and she is panting through her mouth, and I can hear her breathing. She is still drinking, pooping, and eating a bit but has not laid an egg.

 

[oliviajean]

Have you tried any vitamin supplements like Poultry Cell in case she's suffering from a vitamin deficiency? Make sure she's got oyster shell too in case she's having reproductive issues.

I will try the vitamin supplements, I have been providing oyster shell as well. Thank you for your help!

 

[oliviajean]

At her age, Mareks disease comes to mind. But I would start some human vitamin B complex tablets, 1/2 tablet daily given orally or crushed in some food, in case of a riboflavin deficiency. A chicken sling might be good for her if she will tolerate it to make it easier to eat and drink. She can have periods out of it to rest or sleep. Here are some links to read about Mareks:
https://vetmedbiosci.colostate.edu/vdl/colorado-avian-health-program/mareks-disease/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

Thanks so much for the recommendations, I’ll pick up some of the vitamin B complex tablets and try that. I have been considering a chicken sling so we may try that out.

I have been researching and am worried about Mareks, and it seems like her symptoms could indicate a number of things. Thanks for the links, none of my chickens have had illness/injury so I do not have much experience.