Mysterious leg injury... do I wait it out?

[Want Less]

A week ago today I found one of our 14 month RIR old hens hobbling and unable to put one of her legs down. I was outside not far from the pen when whatever caused it happened and I never heard any ruckus or whining, so its a mystery as to what she did. Symptoms:

--She shows no sign of pain. You can pick her up, move her leg, wiggle it around and she doesn't object.

--She seems to be able to move her leg from the hock up. It is from the hock down that she is unable to control. The joint feels loose/very relaxed but does not feel broken and doesn't have any "crunchy" feeling when moved around.

--We have observed her *slightly* move her toes on that foot a few times but just barely. She is unable to grip anything with them.

--Her leg and foot are the same temperature as the normal leg. No swelling, marks, etc.

--She hops & balances with her wings, trying to hold the bum leg up best she can to keep it out of the way.

--Eating, drinking and laying normal. Comb color is normal. Does not seem distressed or in pain.

--Since day of injury we've had her separated from flock and confined to a dog kennel to limit movement. We're adding vitamin/electrolytes to her water daily. I take her out daily for some fresh air, grass and "scratching" which she has learned to do now with her beak while she lays down. She's getting better at balancing using her wings, but that is the ONLY improvement we've observed.


It's been a week now and we've seen no change -- good or bad -- and I don't know what else to do. Taking her in for an xray may be cost prohibitive but I may call the vet in the morning just to see what they'd charge to get a shot of her hock for me, just out of curiosity.

Does anyone have any insight as to what may be going on or what else I should be doing? Should I just wait it out as long as her spirit is good and she's not going downhill?

Any and all thoughts/suggestions are welcome.

 

[lucky acres]

It may not be an injury.. I'm having the same problem and found it on this thread..
try for info here.. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=484151
seems to be what we are going through..

 

[Want Less]

Quote:
Thanks for the response. I saw that thread earlier... it is interesting, but I have no reason to think this is neurological. She is not laying over or leaning to one side, she has full use of everything except the lower half of her leg. The post you mentioned seems to point more towards birds who are losing their balance and such, but she's not. Her problem seems more like an injury to me.

 

[NorthTexaschick]

I have a pullet with the same thing that's been going on at least a month. Her "drumstick" feels atrophied on that side. She is still laying, eating, etc. normally. She gets around great, hopping on that one leg, and would still make it up to the 4-ft. roost but I removed her to keep the roos off of her. I just put her in with my chicks since she is a very low-key, docile girl and she's getting along with them fine. But I haven't seen any improvement in that leg.

Sorry I don't have any advice for you. I'm wondering if they could've had some sort of ligament injury???

 

[Want Less]

Quote:
Thats kinda what I was wondering, honestly, since I don't feel an obvious break and it doesn't seem painful to her.

 

[flocksalot]

Last fall my son was throwing rocks while unknowing to him the young ones were running through the area. We only had 6 young ones and I think they were about 10 or 12 weeks old. He hit one of the little boys in the thigh. The little guy couldn't walk let alone keep up with the others, so I put him in a dog cage during the day and put him back in their coop at night. The vet couldn't find anything wrong with him. It took him almost three weeks to heal up enough to really get around, and another week before he was ready to run with his siblings. He healed up fine and now is one of the fastest roo's on the farm. We never did see any bruising or injury, but my seven year old came crying carrying the little guy. Otherwise I would have never known what had happened. My advise, give it some time. Good luck.

 

[Shanda]

This happened to Lily, my Rhode Island Red, a few months ago. We instantly quarantined her in our "chicken hospital". I think I read that thread posted above...because I was afraid it was Marek's disease. She was also laying soft eggs for a few days. I put goldenseal/echinacea and St. John's Root (natural recommendation for Marek's) in her water twice a day. I left her there for about a month. She was laying normal eggs within a few days and stopped limping after 2 weeks. She's back with the flock and has been fine ever since

.

 

[dawg53]

You are doing the right thing by keeping her seperated in a dog crate. But you cant be letting her out to hobble around. She doesnt need to be putting weight on her bad leg/foot, that does not help in the healing process and could possibly worsen the injury. She needs plenty of rest and relaxation with time to heal. You can buy vitamin B complex tablets at a pharmacy and crush one into powder, sprinkle it on her feed, do this for about a week. This may help her speed up healing and recovery. You can also spoil her by giving her scrambled egg in her feed for a protein boost. Provide her with freshwater with her feed as well. Leg/foot injuries take time to heal, some recover quickly and some never recover. The ones that never recover eventually go on to live productive lives and lay eggs, but hobble around one leg, but dont scratch dirt etc...Good luck.

 

[Judy]

I had one with much the same symptoms who had been injured in a coyote attack -- just a few slight scratches on the skin but she had the leg problem, couldn't see or feel anything wrong with the leg but she favored it and even had trouble righting herself for a few weeks -- I'd find her lying on her side or back, pick her up and put her on her feet, and she'd hobble away. She recovered completely; it took about 6 weeks.

Hope your story ends well, too.

 

[Want Less]

Thank you everyone for your input! Wanted to post a little update...

We are on day 11 of the injury. We have continued to confine this hen to a dog kennel and give her vitamins/electrolytes to her water daily. From the recommendation of many of you, we immediately stopped letting her out on supervised outings.

She is still eating, drinking and laying normally. Her balance has improved (I think she has learned to adapt, which is a good thing) and when she stands now in her kennel to move around, she is actually starting to use her bum leg a little in the last few days. Instead of keeping the leg up, she is starting to reach with it, set it down and then hops forward with the good leg. I dont think she is actually putting any weight on it, but just moving it like this is a big difference than even 4 days ago when I posted this question. She still has a long way to go, but the recent improvement has been very reassuring.

Her attitude is getting spunkier and rightfully so, she is protesting the kennel now and I cant blame her. She really wants to get out, and tries really hard to escape every time we open the door.

As a side note, I'm happy to celebrate my 250th post here on BYC with a positive update to a situation that, 11 days ago, I thought was going to end with euthanasia the next morning. Thanks everyone!