Not standing, recovery time?

[lg12]

Last week I came out in the morning to find one of my chickens laying in the pen outside of the coop. This was early morning while the other ones were still roosting so assumed something happened over the night or the evening before (did not check them the night before and coop was open). I looked her over, one foot was bloody and appeared feathers ripped out of her back and at the tips of her wings, but she is also molting heavily so that may not be related. She is the one bird of mine that roosts low so I just assumed something came in and tried to get her. She was sitting up looking around but unable to stand and not trying.

I put her in a box in the basement and have been caring for her for about a week. She is alert, eyes are bright and she is eating and drinking, but still unable to stand. When I first looked her over she reacted in pain when I would touch her one foot and leg but when inspecting her yesterday I'm able to touch and move both of her legs without any reaction. She is able to move her tail feathers so I didn't suspect a broken back. The foot does not look bad and I don't see any other injuries on her. She does flap her wings around at times if startled.

Posting to the forum because I'm a little surprised I was able to move her legs around without reaction and did not see other wounds. At first I just assumed something got her and maybe she had a broken foot or leg, but now I'm concerned maybe it could be something else. I had read Marek's disease can cause a paralysis. My birds are about 1.5 years old and they are my first batch so I'm new to this. If this is just an injury, how long would it be until she was able to stand? If it was Marek's would there be other signs and would she be as alert as she seems? Any other ideas what might be going on or things I should check or watch for?

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to the forum. Sorry about your chicken. A leg injury may take weeks of rest to improve if there is a bad sprain or broken bone. It may be cleaner for her to be in a sling or chicken chair while she recovers, or you can prop her up on towels, but make sure that her food and water are within reach. I would be more concerned about this being an injury with the blood and missing feathers. Mareks usually shows up in youger chickens unless they have been recently exposed by a new bird. If possible, I would place her back inside the coop in a crate with her flock so that she can remain part of the group. Re-introducing a chicken who has been missing is a real pain. Here are some pictures of chicken slings:

 

[lg12]

Thank you, this is very helpful! A sling would definitely help keep her cleaner and I think she'd be much more comfortable. I'll work on rigging something up so she can go back to the coop. Really appreciate the quick response and glad to hear she may just need some more time!

 

[lg12]

She was injured on Nov 10th and still not able to stand approaching 6 weeks. I have had her in the sling and back in the coop with the other birds since posting initially. Her left leg is the one that was injured and she initially was not moving it at all. It does seem like it's improved a little and appears to have some mobility, but nothing drastic. Her right leg she can kick around just fine.

I get her out about once a week to see what she can do but she doesn't even really attempt to stand up. Left her out of the sling overnight last weekend to give here more time to try but in the morning she hadn't really moved at all. She is still eating and drinking, but I feel bad for her and just wonder how much longer to let this go on, especially with cold weather coming. At what point should I just assume she just isn't going to improve? Any advice from people who have been through this is appreciated, thanks.

 

[Eggcessive]

So sorry about her still being lame. I would probably think about putting her down since she has not recovered by now. It is always a hard thing to do, but I just put a lame chicken down recently after she was getting pecked by others after months of limping from a leg or hip injury. My hen was not eating well and had lost a lot of weight. I probably should have done it earlier. Take care.

 

[lg12]

Okay, was thinking that is probably what's best. Too bad though, she was the best layer, and our favorite Suppose I'll give her a few more days but I don't expect much will be different. Really appreciate your advice and help - thank you.