unsteady hen..can't walk PLEASEEE HELP!!!

[oliviad51]

The other day, I saw one of my buff orpington hens just laying on the ground. I picked her up and put her in our "Hospital Coop" where we have one other hen recovering from a raccoon sitiuation. Any time the hen tries to walk, she falls over. Im not sure whats wrong with her. Its almost like she lost her balance. The two hens are getting along great.
Im not sure if its a parasite I need to know about, or her legs are hurt? Its weird though, because if It was a parasite, you would think the other chickens would be getting it too but they're not. Anyways, if anyone could help, please do! thankss

~Olivia~

 

[Imp]

Quote:
With so little info this is tough.

Just some ideas-

http://www.colchesterpoultryclub.com/health.htm

Do both legs/feet look and feel the same? No obvious signs of wounds, breaks or bumblefoot?

Parasite isn't the first thought that came to mind. But I suppose weakness from a parasite overload is possible. Check out the vent area and under the wings for lice or mites. Any sign of worms in the poop?

Could there have been any trauma to the head, pecked?

Or, Any moisture/mold/fungus in the food or water? or potentially poisons they could have gotten into?

Don't know for sure what to suggest. I'd start with checking all the birds thoroughly. Then cleaning and sanitizing all coop and run areas.
Then supportive care, Vitamins and Electrolytes, probiotics,clean water, quarantining sick birds etc.

Is vet an option? Might be a good idea to at least try to catch any disease early.

Good luck

Imp

 

[jerseygirl1]

Mine was doing that, I thought Marek's - however, it ws a head injury - gave her some yogurt, quarantined her, also gave some vitamin water and she seems tobeOK now

 

[Wendy80]

I have treated the same thing in the past with another chicken of mine and am now going through it again. Once you have established that it is not a parasite, trauma or any other issue as with moldy feed or poisoning, you may want to look at a vitamin/calcium deficiency. This is what my issue was in the past and believed to be now. To treat, I have been grinding up eggshells and sprinkling on her food with a little bit of brewers yeast. I have tried yogurt in the past but they never seem to eat it. To encourage the intake of the calcium and yeast, I have been giving her a small amount of cooked broken noodles (not many). She eats anything attached to the noodle. I have been treating her like this for about three days and she went from not moving (other than with the assistance of her wings), to hobbling around a lot.

I really hope this helps you out. It is pretty safe and shouldn't compound the problems you are having. It must be said that if it is a deficiency, it will take a few days to see some results. And, I must mention that when it happened with my other chicken, she was down one day, treated for three weeks and one day she just got up and walked around as if nothing was ever wrong. My chickens have oyster shells provided, but maybe some just need more.

Good luck and keep us posted.