My hen has been limping

[froggiesheins]

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YOU GO BUFFY!!!!
And mama too for being such a good nurse.... Keep up the good work and may Buffy make a full recovery.

 

[Tivona]

Buffy has continued to make progress. She is walking much better, putting some weight on her foot when she walks. I still provide some exercises now and then, but mostly leave it to her to strengthen her leg. She started laying about 2 weeks ago and has laid every day since. Miracles do happen!

I just got a goose given to me that has a bad leg very similar to what you described. I have been doing just about the same things for my new girl. Aspirin, gentle stretches, soaking, massage and limiting movement, etc. My Mrs.Goose is already looking better but still has along way to go. She is in less pain but still won't put any weight on it. I am glad to hear your bird is doing better. It gives me hope.

 

[julie0477]

kchisho - What ended up happening with the buff in the long term? Just curious as to if she made a full recovery. I have a friend that I've traded chickens with and one of hers, a golden buff in fact, has been limping for about two months ago. We are trying to decide if she is sick or if its injury. Just curious how your case turned out? Thanks!

 

[annabobbob717]

My 12 week old pullet has been doing the same exact thing, although she still runs around and eats well, she has a bad limp. It's been about four weeks. I'm totally stumped as to what her issue could be. I'm hoping it will heal itself!

 

[rebrascora]

I too have a young pullet who has been lame now for 6 weeks with no sign of improvement. I thought it must be broken or dislocated as she was dropping down onto the hock when she was walking, but I couldn't feel anything out of place. Unfortunately she was initially tripping over her own toes by putting the bad leg foot, down ontop of the good one, so she has now learned to curled the foot up and is walking on her knuckles. She is eating well and looks otherwise healthy, but I know that the longer she keeps that claw curled, the tendons will shrink and she will be unable to walk properly even if the original problem heals. I've been doing physio with her each day to stretch the foot out, but it's not doing any good when 99% of the time she has it curled up. I tried to make a boot out of polystyrene to open her foot out a bit and strapped it on with tape but she was just tripping over the boot even more and I couldn't bear to leave it on as it was causing her more problems than it was solving. I have been trying to devise a sling, so that I can suspend her off the ground with just enough room for her feet to touch the floor, but it's taking time to get it right and then I have to hang her somewhere that she can get food and water and not get bothered by the others. She manages to get out of the way of the others when she has to but generally they don't bother her. Her knuckles are starting to show signs of getting sore, so I am going to have to confine her, which she will hate, but I guess I will be able to put the boot back on and at least work on straightening up that foot if she is confined.

If anyone has any other ideas I'm happy to hear them.

Thanks

Barbara

 

[annabobbob717]

Right now I've just been soaking her in warm baths and stretching her leg out regularly. I've also been giving her half an asprin in the morning so hopefully this will eventually just heal itself bc it's getting nerve wracking

 

[Vbrown71]

My Husband gives me a hard time too when the girls come in the House But I have the same problem right Now with My Rhode Island red Peach , There is No Visible cut, bump it looks normal.
I going to try the Epsom salt bath wish me Luck

 

[rebrascora]

Well sadly mine looks like Marek's disease.
I've currently got 3 that are lame and one that I had to put out of it's misery last week. I did a post mortem on her and she had a huge tumour on her abdomen and another on her leg muscle. All four are young chickens under 22 weeks that I have bred myself and were not vaccinated.
I'm going to try turmeric and freshly ground black pepper on the two remaining pullets as turmeric is very good at shrinking tumours and supporting the immune system and the black pepper helps to activate it. I read about it having good results on horses with sarcoids and I'm going to try it on my mare and it occurred to me that it was worth trying it on the lame pullets too. The cockerel is over due to go to freezer camp anyway.

Hope it is just an ordinary injury with your chickens, but apparently Mareks is very widespread and if chicks aren't vaccinated at hatch, they will be susceptible and most likely show symptoms (usually a limp) between 10 and 24 weeks if they are going to. The one I had to euthenase deteriorated to the point that she couldn't even lie without rolling onto her side and her neck was twisting. It was the first time I had ever killed an animal deliberately and it wasn't easy, but after doing the post mortem and seeing the size of the tumour, I felt that I had done the right thing.

Best of luck with your chickens

Regards

Barbara

 

[ConnieG]

Oh my goodness. Sorry to hear about Buffy. Maybe you can shed some light to my Fluffy's limping of her right leg. History: I lost my rooster while my husband was in the hospital with a broken hip two weeks ago. Romeo (my roosters name) died in my arms as I attempted to give him antibiotics on a home visit from the hospital. I cried my eyes out. I miss him around me and the yard and I am sure the 5 girls (hens) miss him to. Please note that I am a newbee (beginner) with chickens and so any advise is appreciated. I now have Henrietta who is shedding (molting) her feathers. This is a total shock for me as we live in Florida and although the weather is nice, it's been chilly at night. My coop is man made from a dog kennel (chain link fence with a metal roof). I put up tarps around it and put plenty of hay, but they prefer to sleep on the tree limbs I placed in the coop. I feel Henrietta might free to death. Now, my Fluffy is limping. This all started yesterday. All my chickens are adopted so the only time I can pick them up is when they go into the coop at night. I looked at her leg yesterday but could not find anything wrong with it and she did not act like she was in distress. Tonight, I bought her in the house and my husband and I looked at her leg and it looked a bit swollen and the bottom of her chest is red in spots. We cleaned the red area and put some antibiotic ointment on it and on her foot. Today she was limping around the yard pecking for bugs, and she has a hard time keeping up. Yesterday and today she was not perched on the tree limb in the coop but was in the box with hay in it. I been giving all of them antibiotics in their water and I made sure she had plenty to eat. I put water in her box and put the stairs at that box so that in the morning she doesn't have to jump down. I don't know what else to do. Sorry for this long story but this is my first go around all around. Please help?

 

[ConnieG]

I don't know much about chickens so I can't give you any advise, but want to let you know I admire your strength.