- Jul 24, 2013
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About 6 weeks ago, I noticed my 7-year-old Production Red hen, "Red", limping slightly. I looked at and felt her foot and leg and saw nothing wrong; she showed no sign of pain no matter where I touched her leg. I left her alone, thinking it was a mild sprain or strain. She was kept inside her coop for about a week, due to treating the grass for weeds around the coop. During this time, her limp improved but didn't go away.
Thinking she was getting better (and after the lawn was safe for the birds, after about a week), I allowed her to go back to free-ranging the yard during the day. For a while (maybe a week?), I didn't notice any negative change to her limp. Then I noticed it getting gradually worse, eventually affecting her ability/desire to go up and down the henhouse ramp. At this point, I decided to bring Red inside and keep her in a cage to restrict movement and hopefully heal the leg. I still didn't see or feel anything wrong with the foot/leg, and thought that the worsening was only due to the increased exercise Red was undertaking.
It has now been 19 days since I confined Red to a cage for observation and healing. There has essentially been no change. The leg and toes appear normal; they are warm to the touch, and when I pinch her toes, she feels it. However, Red seems to have lost the ability to move the lower portion of her leg independently (from the hock joint down). She doesn't seem to know where her toes are and can only move the entire leg at once from front to back. She does not move her toes and steps on the affected foot occasionally without noticing. Red does not put weight really on the leg, but seems to do so not because of pain, but because she can't feel/move the lower portion of it.
Has anyone had a bird with an injury/abnormality like this? I've flexed her leg back and forth and see no problem with any joint (it looks and feels exactly like her normal leg). Perhaps her original limp was relatively benign, but she somehow severely damaged a tendon or nerve later on?
I don't see her leg getting any better, but I plan to keep her confined for another week just in case. Then I will have to either cull her, or try to reintroduce her into her coop and see if she can manage with essentially one leg.
Has anybody had experience with a one-legged bird having a good quality of life still?
Thank you in advance for any insight or suggestions on this issue.
Thinking she was getting better (and after the lawn was safe for the birds, after about a week), I allowed her to go back to free-ranging the yard during the day. For a while (maybe a week?), I didn't notice any negative change to her limp. Then I noticed it getting gradually worse, eventually affecting her ability/desire to go up and down the henhouse ramp. At this point, I decided to bring Red inside and keep her in a cage to restrict movement and hopefully heal the leg. I still didn't see or feel anything wrong with the foot/leg, and thought that the worsening was only due to the increased exercise Red was undertaking.
It has now been 19 days since I confined Red to a cage for observation and healing. There has essentially been no change. The leg and toes appear normal; they are warm to the touch, and when I pinch her toes, she feels it. However, Red seems to have lost the ability to move the lower portion of her leg independently (from the hock joint down). She doesn't seem to know where her toes are and can only move the entire leg at once from front to back. She does not move her toes and steps on the affected foot occasionally without noticing. Red does not put weight really on the leg, but seems to do so not because of pain, but because she can't feel/move the lower portion of it.
Has anyone had a bird with an injury/abnormality like this? I've flexed her leg back and forth and see no problem with any joint (it looks and feels exactly like her normal leg). Perhaps her original limp was relatively benign, but she somehow severely damaged a tendon or nerve later on?
I don't see her leg getting any better, but I plan to keep her confined for another week just in case. Then I will have to either cull her, or try to reintroduce her into her coop and see if she can manage with essentially one leg.
Has anybody had experience with a one-legged bird having a good quality of life still?
Thank you in advance for any insight or suggestions on this issue.
