Limping Hen

[T Hodges]

I acquired a couple of battered hens about 3 weeks ago. Both seemed to be in good conditon. However, one of them has started to limp on one foot in the last few days. She is a silkie (I think); she has feathers on both feet. Thanks to the posts on the "Diseases and Cures" section, I've been able to rule out scaly leg mites, I think, by comparing the two feet. Only the right one is affected. No bovious signs of diesase or broken bones. No splinters in the coop. No broken skin that I can see. She is relatvely OK, bears weight for a bit, but ultimately lays down often. She has laid only a few eggs, about one egg every other day, while the other hen lays one egg a day. At any rate, does anyone have a thought as to why Prudence is lame?:|

 

[ella]

Have you checked the bottom of her foot for a bumble- it looks like a brown clump of dirt, but it's actually imbedded in the foot.

Otherwise it could just be a sprain. You can add a tablet of plain asprin to 1 gallon of water to help her get some relief.

Hope she's feeling better soon!

 

[MTchick]

If she came from a very nutrient poor environment (which it sounds like she did) she might have a calcium deficiency. I don't know if that would cause lameness like that, but making sure she gets lots of oystershell certainly won't hurt her, and it might help. The poor egg laying could be related to that too, I'd guess.

-MTchick

 

[T Hodges]

Thanks for the replies. I think it's a sprain at this point. Prudence is bearing more weight on the affected foot, and she seems OK. Now I have to deal with the neghbor's coon dog(s) stressing my ladies' so that they haven't laid in the last day or so. sigh.

 

[ella]

Well that sucks, dogs can be such a pain!

You just do what you can, and you've done more than most people in taking in those poor hens

. A little patience and some TLC will go a long way in the end.

 

[dlhunicorn]

If these are rescued battery hens then they probably have a condition known as "cage layer fatigue" or it might be "fatty liver syndrome" or a combination of both (though this also ocurrs with any chicken just especially so with high production ones) ... here is an article explaining both:
http://msucares.com/poultry/diseases/dismisc.htm