- Jul 8, 2008
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My hen is about seven months old and typically free-ranges around the yard, eating grass, bugs, whatever. I feed her layena, supplement with oyster shell, and plenty of fruit and veg. She is a Barred Rock - my very first chicken, a rescue I got in June - and she started limping 10 days ago or so. Since then she has progressively gotten worse.
Now she can't support her own weight at all. She topples if I try to stand her up. She's eating and drinking very little. Her hock joints are red and hot and her feet do not splay properly when I try to set her down.
I spoke with a poultry specialist at the U of I cooperative extension service yesterday. He said it sounded like arthritis. Because she can't stand or walk now, he said, she will likely not recover and the best thing is to put her down.
If she's not improving by tomorrow morning, I have decided that's what I'll do.
But if anyone here has any suggestions for me, anything to try, please tell me. Unlike the poultry specialist, I can lavish care on my chickens. He cares for hundreds, I care for four. Is there anything I can do?????
Now she can't support her own weight at all. She topples if I try to stand her up. She's eating and drinking very little. Her hock joints are red and hot and her feet do not splay properly when I try to set her down.
I spoke with a poultry specialist at the U of I cooperative extension service yesterday. He said it sounded like arthritis. Because she can't stand or walk now, he said, she will likely not recover and the best thing is to put her down.
If she's not improving by tomorrow morning, I have decided that's what I'll do.
But if anyone here has any suggestions for me, anything to try, please tell me. Unlike the poultry specialist, I can lavish care on my chickens. He cares for hundreds, I care for four. Is there anything I can do?????
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