Sciatic nerve damage?

[Autumn Skye]

Hello all! Last June I got 8 chicks...4 Barred Rocks & 4 Easter Eggers. They all started Laying between the end of November & the middle of December. Alice was the last one to lay an egg. All the hens appeared healthy, strong & active. On December 26th, Alice, who had acted fine all morning, went into a nest box to lay her 4th egg ever. She never left the box. I went to check on her & after 2 hours & no egg, I removed her from the nest box to check on her. I placed her on the floor, & she had a very bad limp. But she moved away from me & out into the run, so I decided to just watch her. Went to check on her 10 minutes later to discover that she had laid an egg in the run & was now completely down & being attacked by the other hens. I scooped her up & brought her inside. She was limping badly. I spoke with 2 separate vets that day, a farm vet & my family vet. No one was sure what was happening, but the farm vet said she could do a necropsy if she died. I also spoke to someone whose family has kept chickens for 7 generations & she felt it might be sciatic nerve damage...that perhaps when she went to lay the egg it pressed on the nerve. She managed to lay 2 more eggs over the next 4 days. At which point she stopped trying to walk & stopped laying eggs. We kept her in a pen with food & water & let her rest. Slowly over the course of the winter, she began standing more & more. Towards the end of February, she even started laying eggs again. The problem is, her right leg is still not right. She limps when she walks on it & her foot has no turned in. So when she walks, she steps on the left foot with the turned in right. My sister in law made her some diapers, & we are taking her out each day in the back room to hopefully exercise that leg, but it doesn't seem to be improving. At nite she goes back into her pen. She does faithfully deliver breakfast to us regularly these days! Nice large size eggs too. I have been giving her Rooster Booster & Poultry Drench. Nothing has changed. She has never acted sick at all. She has been perky & alert thru all of it. Onset was sudden when she went to lay an egg. So within 2 hours she went lame. The leg has never been paralyzed. Has anyone ever seen anything like this happen before? My vets are stumped. Everyone is stumped. But with so many people here, maybe someone else will have some insights. Thank you in advance!

 

[turkey girl 0964]

@Ridgerunner @JacinLarkwell @Overo Mare

 

[turkey girl 0964]

IDK who else to tag.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

@aart and @Eggcessive are pretty good with figuring these things out.

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you get a picture of her standing from the front or back that clearly shows her leg conformation? She could possibly have a leg bone deformity that has worsened with age. Sometimes those can eventually end up with a ruptured hock tendon. Varus and valgus deformities are the ones that are common.

It took me forever to realize that she has on a chicken diaper, LOL. I thought there was some huge tumor. Sciatic nerve paralysis can occur with Mareks disease, but also being egg bound can cause a temporary paralysis. Can she stand at all now or walk?

 

[Autumn Skye]

I should have attached the photo where she had on the pink diaper! Lol. It was more obvious!
She can walk, with a limp & is consistently putting her right foot down on her left, as the foot is turned in. When this started, it happened as she was laying an egg. She was fine immediately before this. I cannot stress that enough! She didn't really walk at all for about a month, then in February started walking in her odd little way & started laying eggs again. She was all of 6 months old when this occurred. She is 10 months old now. Has remained perky & alert throughout. Never seemed at all sick. Let me know if these photos help. She keeps the right leg up like that much of the time & basically only puts it down when she has to. She will put weight on it to lean forward to eat or drink, and she will walk with her limp. The leg was NEVER paralyzed. From the start she has always had the ability to move it. But you can see that its turned in. It was not like that before this all started. And none of my other 7 have had any issues. They are all the same age & came from the same place. Look at that face! She just spilled her food everywhere. She has a huge personality.

 

[Eggcessive]

Here are some links to read about the various leg bone deformities that can cause one or both legs to twist or rotate:
https://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/leg-health-in-large-broilers

https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poul...ctious-skeletal-disorders-in-poultry-broilers

 

[Autumn Skye]

Here are some links to read about the various leg bone deformities that can cause one or both legs to twist or rotate:
https://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/leg-health-in-large-broilers

https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poul...ctious-skeletal-disorders-in-poultry-broilers

So you are thinking that it looks like some kind of genetic deformity? Do I now have a house hen? Lets not tell my husband yet...

 

[mayomutt2]

Hello all! Last June I got 8 chicks...4 Barred Rocks & 4 Easter Eggers. They all started Laying between the end of November & the middle of December. Alice was the last one to lay an egg. All the hens appeared healthy, strong & active. On December 26th, Alice, who had acted fine all morning, went into a nest box to lay her 4th egg ever. She never left the box. I went to check on her & after 2 hours & no egg, I removed her from the nest box to check on her. I placed her on the floor, & she had a very bad limp. But she moved away from me & out into the run, so I decided to just watch her. Went to check on her 10 minutes later to discover that she had laid an egg in the run & was now completely down & being attacked by the other hens. I scooped her up & brought her inside. She was limping badly. I spoke with 2 separate vets that day, a farm vet & my family vet. No one was sure what was happening, but the farm vet said she could do a necropsy if she died. I also spoke to someone whose family has kept chickens for 7 generations & she felt it might be sciatic nerve damage...that perhaps when she went to lay the egg it pressed on the nerve. She managed to lay 2 more eggs over the next 4 days. At which point she stopped trying to walk & stopped laying eggs. We kept her in a pen with food & water & let her rest. Slowly over the course of the winter, she began standing more & more. Towards the end of February, she even started laying eggs again. The problem is, her right leg is still not right. She limps when she walks on it & her foot has no turned in. So when she walks, she steps on the left foot with the turned in right. My sister in law made her some diapers, & we are taking her out each day in the back room to hopefully exercise that leg, but it doesn't seem to be improving. At nite she goes back into her pen. She does faithfully deliver breakfast to us regularly these days! Nice large size eggs too. I have been giving her Rooster Booster & Poultry Drench. Nothing has changed. She has never acted sick at all. She has been perky & alert thru all of it. Onset was sudden when she went to lay an egg. So within 2 hours she went lame. The leg has never been paralyzed. Has anyone ever seen anything like this happen before? My vets are stumped. Everyone is stumped. But with so many people here, maybe someone else will have some insights. Thank you in advance!

Hello I'm in NC and n

 

[mayomutt2]

Hello all! Last June I got 8 chicks...4 Barred Rocks & 4 Easter Eggers. They all started Laying between the end of November & the middle of December. Alice was the last one to lay an egg. All the hens appeared healthy, strong & active. On December 26th, Alice, who had acted fine all morning, went into a nest box to lay her 4th egg ever. She never left the box. I went to check on her & after 2 hours & no egg, I removed her from the nest box to check on her. I placed her on the floor, & she had a very bad limp. But she moved away from me & out into the run, so I decided to just watch her. Went to check on her 10 minutes later to discover that she had laid an egg in the run & was now completely down & being attacked by the other hens. I scooped her up & brought her inside. She was limping badly. I spoke with 2 separate vets that day, a farm vet & my family vet. No one was sure what was happening, but the farm vet said she could do a necropsy if she died. I also spoke to someone whose family has kept chickens for 7 generations & she felt it might be sciatic nerve damage...that perhaps when she went to lay the egg it pressed on the nerve. She managed to lay 2 more eggs over the next 4 days. At which point she stopped trying to walk & stopped laying eggs. We kept her in a pen with food & water & let her rest. Slowly over the course of the winter, she began standing more & more. Towards the end of February, she even started laying eggs again. The problem is, her right leg is still not right. She limps when she walks on it & her foot has no turned in. So when she walks, she steps on the left foot with the turned in right. My sister in law made her some diapers, & we are taking her out each day in the back room to hopefully exercise that leg, but it doesn't seem to be improving. At nite she goes back into her pen. She does faithfully deliver breakfast to us regularly these days! Nice large size eggs too. I have been giving her Rooster Booster & Poultry Drench. Nothing has changed. She has never acted sick at all. She has been perky & alert thru all of it. Onset was sudden when she went to lay an egg. So within 2 hours she went lame. The leg has never been paralyzed. Has anyone ever seen anything like this happen before? My vets are stumped. Everyone is stumped. But with so many people here, maybe someone else will have some insights. Thank you in advance!View attachment 2620043

My 8 months old leghorn back in July got lame in left leg. Vet said X-ray showed a tendon issue. 2 weeks later after Meloxicam for pain and inflammation and crate rest she was normal. Now Feb 2024 right leg she was limping on it and over night it was fine and her in am left leg she hops cant stand but cannot close toes cant grasp and keeps leg out in front cant use it well . Vet said probably Marek but I don't think so.
How is your hen? I think it may be sciatica and never was a ligament before in July 23
She has in past 2 weeks passed weird flat no white only yoke looking smelly 3 odd egg things. Now no eggs. And vet X-rays show no eggs in body.