What to look for when hen is limping?

[annetteincomo]

I have a Buff Orpington that started limping a couple months ago. When it first happened, I looked her feet and legs all over. The only thing I found was that she'd broken a middle toenail. I also found a small trace of blood on the coop door, and I'm not sure if that is related. A day or two later, I found her other middle toenail was also broken.

She seems like she has been slowly getting better, and I have continued to check her legs and feet, and found no signs of illness of injury. Yesterday it seems to have gotten a lot worse again, and now she is lying down to keep weight off her leg.

Is there anything else I can look for or do to try to help? I am thinking about soaking her feet to see if there's something hidden under dirt that I'm not seeing.

 

[FunClucks]

How strange. Yes, I'd definitely wash her feet, and maybe the rest of her, and inspect her legs, hips, feet, claws, etc. Feel her and see if you can tell if anything is broken. Any heavy roosters trying to mate her, or anyone jumping on her? How high is her perch from the ground that she sleeps on at night? She could be getting injured jumping down, like from the roost or something. Have you fixed anything in the coop where she could be catching her toenails? Any clues on your coop camera footage?

Normally I would suspect Marek's disease, but the injury is throwing that conclusion into question. You can search on this site - there are a number of Articles and threads discussing Marek's disease - to see if you think Marek's disease might fit.

I'd suggest isolation cage with the other chickens, like a large wire dog crate in a covered run or something, to let her be with the others, but not interact with them to prevent injury/reinjury. That way she is less stressed and keeps her place in the pecking order, but is not hurt again while healing.