My 6 year old rooster has all of a sudden started having balance and walking issues. Two days ago I cleaned their coop and trimmed his spurs. His left leg has bothered him for about a year now. No sign of injury, just thought maybe arthritis. He’s always got around fine just with a odd gait. He doesn’t like to be held so he struggled a bit being picked up, but nothing major. I scooped him up and trimmed his spurs without incident. Yesterday when I went to check on him, he was sitting down, and not crowing. He tried to get up to eat some treats and staggered then fell forward like a drunk person. He plopped back down. He can get up and waddle with great effort into the coop but he shakes a bit as if it’s a strain. All other chickens are fine. He seems alert but I can’t tell if he’s just dizzy and weak or in pain. I tried hand feeding him and he wanted no part of it, he’s not super tame. It just stressed him out. I’ve noticed his wing on his same side seems a bit limp also. Tonight I bought livestock muscle lineament and rubbed on his leg under the feathers, no wound or trauma visible. He really kicked at me, but again he’s not super tame, or maybe he’s in pain..? Only a few scales on his hock are red, but it could be from him stumbling, sitting and falling. I also sprayed blu kote antifungal on both legs to cover leg mites. I gave him some nutridrench as well, and even put probiotics and electrolytes in their water. I don’t know what else to do or what’s wrong. Did he have a stroke, is it mareks, broken leg, leg mites....?? I’m at a total loss. He’s having a very difficult time getting around, he just sits in the run all day, then the coop at night because he can’t roost. No messy butt from diarrhea. I just changed over to medium pine shavings for the winter for them. They’ve had them in the past with no issues. Good ventilation. In summer I use sand. They are modified free roam in their enclosed run, which is about 30 by 20 ft. If anyone can help, I’d be so grateful.
