Sick silkie

[SilkieMan]

I have a silkie hen who will be 1 year old next month, and she has some weird problems. Ever since a while back she started losing mobility. She's healthy but she does have a bad foot that limits her some. The thing is her sister has the same problem with one of her feet and gets around just as good as my other chickens. Any ideas?? She's one of my first chickens and it always seems like I'm going to loose her. And yesterday I picked her up to find her having a small seizure in my hands! I feel so
Bad for her...she's so sweet. Please help

 

[Erica]

Hi SilkieMan,

I'm sorry about your troubles. It would probably be a good idea to have a really close inspection of her foot and leg. The first thing that springs to mind with a limping bird at her age is bumblefoot. Are there any swellings, redness or heat in the pad?

Next look for any swelling or other troubles around the hock joint. Does it bend okay?

Feel higher up and see if both sides of her thigh and hip area feel the same.

Then report back. The seizure may be connected or may not be... Some silkies have an area where there's no skull protecting the brain, so a knock there can cause neurological problems that might affect the gait. Some diseases like lymphoid leukosis can also cause a range of problems that include limping. But I wouldn't say any of these is likely; these are just some things that may affect birds in similar ways. Marek's is something silkies are allegedly susceptible to, but by 12 months of age most birds are fairly resistant.

Hopefully someone with more experience will come along and be able to help... These are just things that spring to my mind, but I haven't got much experience with silkies or with the above diseases. At this stage though, it would be sensible to try to narrow it down as to whether it's definitely in the foot, or higher up.

Best of luck,
Erica

 

[SilkieMan]

I'll take that advice into consideration for sure. Thank you, Erica, for the help and I'm on my way to check her right now!


Much appreciation,
SilkieMan