Started as a limp 5 weeks ago

[Scott G in CT]

Hi everyone. I have a Blue Lace Red Wyandotte just over 3 years old. She has 3 sisters, another Blue Lace and 2 Silver Laced Wyandottes. I use pine shavings and now DE mixed in. Coop gets completely cleaned weekly, and scoop poop daily. I use sand and DE in the bottom of the coop.
It started with a limp, and now she has almostly completely lost use of her left leg. I thought it was possibly bumblefoot, but actually was looking at the wrong leg. I brought her to the ER and there wasn't an exotic Dr. there, so she went along with Bumblefoot and prescribed her antibiotics. I soaked in Epsom salt and sprayed with tea tree oil. The limp did get better for a little bit, but she had gotten lame at the end of the cycle, standing around with her eyes closed. Right before the limp came back, she was scratching normally and seemed to have no problems. The lameness only lasted about 2 days, but now her limp came back with a vengeance 4 days ago, and she hasn't been able to put weight on it going on 3 days. She had her follow up with the exotic Dr. which pretty much went no where. He said the feet look great, that it could be Mericks Disease. All my girls came vaccinated when I purchased them. He prescribed an anti-parasite since she does have round worms.
I do notice swelling in her "ankle" and did notice some lifted scales in that area. I noticed this before but didn't think too much of it. Now I'm thinking she might have scaley leg mites, but doesn't show the crustiness that I would expect if she was this bad. My 2 silvers seem to have it also, so I decided to treat them all with ivermectin from TSC. The 2 Blues are doses, and the 2 silvers will be dosed over the weekend. This is day 2 and I see no improvement from the previous day.
The only time she wasn't eating a lot was during her lameness, but still did pick. I believe she was laying eggs up till about 5 days ago also. She has had an appetite and seemed to be ok except for the limp.
The only other thing to note is that I had a roosting bar issue and it came down a few times with them on it. I've since fixed the issue. I don't see how this could be the problem since she did get better for awhile, and the bar hasn't come down for close to a month now.
Please help. This is my first set of chickens so I really don't know what I'm doing. I've done tons of research, but have little real world experience. I'm an avid animal lover and it's killing me to see her suffer the way she is. Thank you for any help you can give me to my girl healthy again.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Welcome To BYC

When was her last egg?

Please post photos of the legs/feet/poop and hen - Thank you.

Hard to know why she's limping. It could be Marek's disease, an injury or something else going on. The Marek's vaccine doesn't prevent birds from infection from the virus, it may help reduce the formation of tumors.

I'd see that she's eating/drinking o.k., giving 1/4 tablet B-Complex daily may be helpful with support of the legs. If she's getting on well with the others, then I'd leave her with her flock.

 

[dawg53]

How high is the roost bar? These types of injuries are normally due to a bird hopping down from a high object such as a lawn chair, trash can, picnic table and/or high roosts inside the coop. They end up with sprained or strained ligaments or tendons and the healing time can be weeks or several months. Heavy breeds are susceptible to these types of injuries but can occur with any bird.

If roosts are too high, they should be lowered. Other high objects in the yard eliminated.
The bird should be caged to limit her movement in order for the leg to heal. Provide her feed and water to eat and well as Vitamin B complex that @Wyorp Rock mentioned while she is caged. Vitamin B complex may help speed up recovery time.

After 7 days, remove her from the cage and see if there's improvement. If not, re-cage her for 2 weeks, then remove her again to see if there's improvement. If there isnt any limping, return her to the flock. However, if there's the slightest limp, re-cage her for a longer period of time until she is completely healed.
Remember; time heals. Try to keep her cage as clean as possible. I've dealt with these types of injuries, long term as well. Patience.

 

[Lor]

What dawg53 said is what we do with limpy chickens.

 

[Scott G in CT]

Welcome To BYC

When was her last egg?

Please post photos of the legs/feet/poop and hen - Thank you.

Hard to know why she's limping. It could be Marek's disease, an injury or something else going on. The Marek's vaccine doesn't prevent birds from infection from the virus, it may help reduce the formation of tumors.

I'd see that she's eating/drinking o.k., giving 1/4 tablet B-Complex daily may be helpful with support of the legs. If she's getting on well with the others, then I'd leave her with her flock.

Thanks for the help. Last egg maybe 5 days ago. The 2 blue laced have similar color so hard to tell, but the other one is broody so pretty sure they were hers. I will get some B complex and see if that helps her. The silvers aren't picking on her, so I would like to leave her in there.

 

[Scott G in CT]

How high is the roost bar? These types of injuries are normally due to a bird hopping down from a high object such as a lawn chair, trash can, picnic table and/or high roosts inside the coop. They end up with sprained or strained ligaments or tendons and the healing time can be weeks or several months. Heavy breeds are susceptible to these types of injuries but can occur with any bird.

If roosts are too high, they should be lowered. Other high objects in the yard eliminated.
The bird should be caged to limit her movement in order for the leg to heal. Provide her feed and water to eat and well as Vitamin B complex that @Wyorp Rock mentioned while she is caged. Vitamin B complex may help speed up recovery time.

After 7 days, remove her from the cage and see if there's improvement. If not, re-cage her for 2 weeks, then remove her again to see if there's improvement. If there isnt any limping, return her to the flock. However, if there's the slightest limp, re-cage her for a longer period of time until she is completely healed.
Remember; time heals. Try to keep her cage as clean as possible. I've dealt with these types of injuries, long term as well. Patience.

 

[Scott G in CT]

I'll measure the roost bar to see exact height, but I don't think it's too high or the other girls would be affected. To lower it I will have to manufacture some nee holders, but I had to fix one so no big deal. The bar did fall a few times, hence why I had to fix it. I'm reassured that you said healing takes time. Makes sense that it would've came back. I'm hesitant to separate her again because she has a strong bond with her counterpart and I found them snuggled together this morning. I'm going to pick up some b complex and give that a try. It does look like the silvers might have scaley leg mites and I'll try to get some pictures today. All the girls have been dosed with Ivermectin now. I'll do a good cleaning today and wipe down with something safe, but not sure what to use. I've used tea tree oil in the past, but not sure if that's effective for bugs.

 

[Scott G in CT]

The bar is sitting at 25 inches. The ramp to the house is right there and they use that to get up a lot of the times. Couldn't get pictures because I spent most of the day scrubbing the coop. I need to get them using the outdoor bar again at night. I think because it fell they are weary now. I did notice my broody girl is suddenly taking a beating from the silvers. She may be the one that needs to be separated, lol. Gimpy is about the same and still eating and drinking and pecking around the ground a little. I hope today is better than yesterday