My Chicken Won't Stand Up

[CaptainBakaw]

I have a Buff Orphington named Buffy, and she's extremely friendly and I'm very attached to her. She has already survived Coccidiosis when she was younger through medication, and now she is about 2 years old. Just about a day ago I noticed she was limping, but she was still able to get around easily, and she would sometimes use her wing for support. It hadn't been like it before, so it had to have happened that day. I separated her and put her in a dog kennel, and brought her in the house. Other than her legs, she looked completely healthy, and she acted normal. I wrapped bandages on the leg she was favoring and put her in a chicken sling. She didn't looked distressed at all, but instead she looked quite content and pleased that she got extra treats. She has been eating and drinking normally, but sometimes she would have normal poop and other times she would have diaherria (I think I spelled that right?) She could have just had that occasionally because I had fed her strawberries.

Today when I took the wrapping off of her foot and put her in the grass in the backyard, she kind of flopped on her side. This wasn't really anything new because she had been laying on her side most of the time, but now neither of her legs would work. She would just lay down and eat grass like nothing was wrong, and when I tried to help her stand up she would flop back down. Her wings and upper body work fine, but it's just her legs. She's healthy everywhere else.

She isn't really the most agile thing, so she does have difficulty getting off the roost in the mornings sometimes. Under the roost we have kind of a tile floor with bedding, but I think she may have hurt her legs somehow if she landed to hard on the floor of the coop. That morning of the day I found her limping I did hear a loud noise from the coop, but there are always loud noises coming from that thing so I didn't think anything of it. She seems completely content and doesn't look like she's in pain at all.

I would REALLY appreciate any advice or ideas about what's wrong with her!!!

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. Injuries from falls or from other chickens are very common, but it sounds like she got worse after splinting and the dog crate. I would use poultry vitamins either in her water or give some Poultry Cell vitamins orally or PolyVisol no iron baby vitamins 3 drops daily. each day in case of a vitamin deficiency. Was she vaccinated for Mareks disease, and have you added any new birds in the last couple of months? Chickens can become lame for several different reasons. I would leave the splint off, and perhaps try a chicken sling for a few hours a day with periods of rest in between. The sling may help get her upright, out of her droppings, and close to food and water. If your vet will check her droppings for coccidiosis and worms, simce cocci has been a cause of lameness because of dehydration and weakness. Let us know if there are any updates.

 

[CaptainBakaw]

I haven't had her vaccinated for Marek's disease, but we haven't added any new chickens. The chickens we have now are the same ones Buffy grew up with. I have taken the splint off, and I have been taking her out of the sling periodically. She layed an egg today, and it wasn't soft, so I think that's a good sign. I'll give her some vitamins. She sometimes does get picked on by other larger chickens. Thank you so much for the advice!