Molting chicken walking funny. Normal or not??

[sallihennipenni]

I have a 1/12 yr old RIR hen that is going through a heavy molt. A few days ago I noticed she was walking in a crouched position. She doesn't do it all the time. She CAN run and walk upright, however she seems to be in this crouched position most of the time. Sometimes I SEE HER STAGGER AS THOUGH SHE WERE DRUNK! I read that it may be a Vit B deficiency, so I isolated her in the run and gave her a treat with a Vit B formula in it. She ate just a little and then spent the rest of the time worrying that she wasn't able to be out with her friends.....pacing back and forth in the run like a completely normal hen. I don't understand why she sometimes acts normal and other times walks crouched. I would think the crouching would be an indication that she's weak....so I wouldn't expect her to be able to run and walk normally. What gives??? Any advice will be appreciated!! Here's a picture of her. Her feet aren't curled. Her comb is red. Does this have something to do with the molt?

 

[carrie+chicks]

I have a chicken that is doing the same thing now. What ended up happening with yours? Thanks for your help. I'm worried about her!

 

[avjudge]

I know this is an 11-year-old thread but it describes my experience so well I decided to reawaken it.

Have people here noticed this behavior during molting, and did it resolve after the molt?

I have a 2 1/2-year-old golden comet who is on-and-off squatting when she walks. She is in the middle of a hard molt.

She also, 2 1/2 weeks ago, was attacked by a dog who pulled out many of her back feathers and left a gash between her wings. In the days immediately after the attack she was walking like this, I assumed because she was trying to move away from the pain in her back. The wound seemed to be healing up fine (no sign of infection) and she resumed normal walking. But though it still looks good to my eye — no sign of redness surrounding the scab but there is crud caked over the scab which I hesitate to try to clean as that would probably dislodge the scab— I wonder if it could be the wound causing this walking.

I’m not sure if the molt coincidentally began near the time of the attack, or was precipitated by the stress of the attack, but it was the next week that I noticed her molting on steroids. I was glad to see it, as neither she nor my other golden comet (which I lost to salpingitis over the summer) molted last fall and her feathers were very ratty, some little more than bare quills.

The photo is from a couple days ago, and shows the area where the dog pulled out all her feathers leaving completely bare skin. The scab over the wound is hidden under her wings toward the top of the picture.

None of my girls are laying (this one was until the attack, but all of the other older ones had stopped and my 26-week-old slackers haven’t started yet) so I am feeding 20% all-flock.