Stuck run

[Chooks Aloud]

My lovely Dolly is still limping. I have checked her over and there is no sign of any damage to her foot/leg. She does not flinch when I examine/touch it. All my girls have recently been wormed and there is no sign of any mites etc. All she wants to do is just sit.

 

She is not laying at the moment - she's been in a moult. Her comb/wattles are becoming redder and now that she has got her new feathers she looks lovely. She used to be top chook, but now she is last down the pecking order. I'm really at a loss as she has had this limp for approx 2 months. I give all the vitamins with their tea e.g limestone flour, poultry spice, cider vinegar in their water, garlic etc. They eat their pellets and have greens/veg as well.

 

The vets in our area are not really up on chooks.

 

Any ideas what could be wrong.

 

Karen

[mot336]

Hi, I am still a novice, but when I first got my ex batts Fergie had a fall (out of the cube - she was not even ment to be in there - too nosy) She had no broken bones but couldnt walk for 2 weeks, we had to sit with her and hand feed, offer water to her! Thank goodness she made a full recovery, well apart from a very slight limp (3months on). She now lays everyday - Bless! and dont tell the others but she is my favourite! Hope you get to the bottom of Dolly's limping.

[Egluntyne]

Maybe it is just a sprain. One of mine limped for ages. A bit of extra calcium might help.

[Three Wise Hens]

Hi,

 

One of my hens has hardly been able to walk this week as I think she caught her foot in the skirt of the run and sprained her knee while my son was trying to round her up into the run - I could only tell where she had hurt herself the following day when a bruise came up on the inside of her knee joint. I rubbed in arnica cream and have given her crushed arnica pills pushed into grapes every day since, and thankfully she seems to be on the mend.

 

Five days ago she just sat down a lot and hopped badly, but did manage to feed and drink, and she hasn't stopped laying eggs surprisingly. She is trying to put a little weight on her leg today and has been hopping round the garden a lot more energetically. I've been giving her apple cider vinegar every day, and have de-loused her (I found lots of the little critters when I was examining her).

 

Don't know whether arnica would help after 2 months, especially if you can't see any injury. My hen didn't flinch when I touched the sore leg so without the bleeding under the skin it would have been hard to pinpoint what was wrong.

 

Hope your hen recovers soon.

[Chooks Aloud]

Thanks - it's worth a go. Can you buy arnica at Holland & Barrett? What's best, the cream or the pills or both together?

 

Karen

[Chooks Aloud]

Well, I got to speak to the lovely lady vet at the Animed Centre re Dolly's limp. She was very helpful and thought that Dolly could be suffering from arthritis due to a previous fall (she has been limping for 2 months now). She said that we could go down the route of x rays etc but seeing as she was otherwise healthy suggested to leave her and see how she goes. At least I now have her number and will take Dolly to see her if she takes a turn for the worse.

 

I've noticed that on the leg she is not using, the muscle in her leg has deteriorated, whereas the other thigh is lovely and plump. If she has got a touch of arthritis and this is stopping her from using her leg properly, is there anything such as a chicken inflammatory pill/medicine that I could give her to help?

 

Thanks

 

Karen