Newbie needing advice on limping hen

[kkimmikk]

I started with 3 laying hens (NH Reds) last April, and had a wonderful summer with them. Lost one to a hawk in October, so my uncle brought me a pair of pullets that had been hatched late May. They are very large black birds, and after a while they settled in with my 2 Reds just fine, but one of the pullets was limping right from the beginning. My uncle thought her leg must have got hurt transporting her to my house, and that made sense to me.

Since then, the new girls starting laying in December, but the limping has continued. It does not appear any worse or any better. Several times I have taken her and inspected her foot for any scabs, spots, injuries, etc. I have manipulated her leg and it seems fine and has no hot spots. She eats, drinks, lays daily, etc, but the limp does not go away. Now that the snow has melted I see she will not stand on one foot and use the other for scratching. She does continue to fly up to the perches in the coop to sleep with the Reds at night.

(Sadly, we lost her companion (the other black one we had) two weeks ago. We pulled four eggs from the coop in the am, and at 5pm found her laying in the coop with intestines protruding from her vent.)

I am sorry if this is too much info, but I am trying to give a good picture of the situation in case something I don't think is related sends up a red flag for you.

Is this just the way it will be for her, or is there something else I should be doing or looking at?
Thanks for any assistance you can give me! ~kim

 

[birdicus7]

Have you checked the bottom of her foot for bumblefoot? Look for a hard lump right in the center of her foot.

 

[kkimmikk]

Yes, I have checked the bottoms of both her feet several times since I keep seeing bumblefoot come up when I research "limping hen". There is nothing there that looks like a scab or lump, and both her feet look the same.