4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[LunaKiw1]

I posted this time last week to say that Daisy, our 26 week old Speckeld Grey, had started limping badly. We did take her to see the vet but he could find nothing physically wrong with her leg after laying her on her back and doing a lot of manipulations. (I've just had my annual hip replacement operation and could empathise with what he did to her!) He offered to give her an injection just to ease any pain so she had a Metacam shot, which cost us £27.

She then seemed to get better over the next few days and we were really hopeful we'd resolved the problem but the last couple of days she has regressed again and is now - a week later - back to limping just as badly.

When she stands still she retrsats her left leg and when she sets off after being still sfor a while she limps worse. BUT on the other hand she is still very much herelf and is eating well and still laying every day (though we're discarding her eggs because of the Metacam for 28 days). She just trundles round happily after the other two hens, reminding me of My Naughty Little sister somehow.

I know this sounds awful but we're reluctant to take her back to the vets as he'll either gjust ive her another jab - which may not last any longer than one week based on this time - or else might suggest he does an x-ray or something which could end up costing us a lot of money. We do really love our chooks dearly but just ouldn't commit to a very heavy financial outlay for extensive investigations. I don't know how much pain she is in as apart from the limp she seems happy - but on the other hand i don't want her to suffer, and she's only young so to contempalte anything like having her PTS seems awful.

Please can anyone suggest anything more we can do at home? (We've been adding limestone flour to their feed after another post suggested calcium deficiency).

[Chucky Mama]

She shouldn't have a calcium deficiency at this age, especially as she hasn't been laying regularly for a prolonged time. A Metacam injection only lasts for approx 24 hours which is why she improved initially and then went lame again. I would contact your vet to explain that she improved after the jab but went lame again. He may be able to prescribe a course of Metacam for her (orally). If you have her weight he may be prepared to prescribe some without seeing her again which will save you the consultation fee leaving you just the drugs to pay for. When I had an hen that went lame, it took a good 7 days of strict rest and Metacam to get her sound again. You must rest her regardless of medication. Rest is always the best medicine. The drawback of giving pain relief is that it encourages movement again which can be detrimental to the overall healing of an injury.

[UKMARCH]

I have a limping hen too which was caused by our next door neighbour's plastic greenhouse landing on or near her in the big winds we had this week. I have kept her restricted since (she is not amused) and been using arnica gel and she has greatly improved. She has not been allowed to move around though but is happy, eating and still laying which is good as she's our only one at the moment!

[LunaKiw1]

Thanks both. ChuckMama, we rang our vet this morning but the person who is their chicken expert, and who saw her last week, isn't on duty again until Monday now. The nurse read up Daisy's notes and confirmed what you said about Metacam only being effective for 24 hrs. We did let them out today but fenced off a very reduced free range area so that she had restricted walking but was still with the other 2 hens. Funnily enough she is stiffer and more awkward when she moves after sitting or a period of being still than if she walks (ie limps rather slowly) around as it gets a bit less noticeable with movement. However, when she stops she tucks her left leg up and so is clearly not happy putting weight on it. We'll keep an eye on her and plan to take her to see the vet on Monday again. We did another physical check of her leg and foot but there's no obvious injury and the vet found nothing wrong last week either.

We have some arnica out at the stables where we keep our horse so will bring some of that back and try to massage her (feathery!) leg.

[Chucky Mama]

Sounds like a good plan. Keep her rested and speak to your vet again on Monday.