Storms and chickens

[Suze]

Hi All, I'm after some advice please. Around 6 weeks ago we got 2 new POL hens to keep our one remaining chook company. The pecking order took a couple of weeks to establish and during this time, one of our new POLs, a Black Rock, developed a limp. She was still getting around and eating and drinking OK so we gave it some time to see if it would heal. The limp did not get any better so we took her to a vet who could not find any signs of fractures or infection so assumed a strain or sprain and prescribed Loxicom for the pain and rest. 2 weeks later and the limp is no better. She can still get around and feed etc. but spends a lot of time sitting down and keeping out of the others way. Should I give her some more time to heal or just have her PTS now as I don't want her to suffer if she won't get better and it's been about 4 weeks now? She doesn't seem to be in pain until she tries to walk and then can barely put weight on her leg. The vet suggested next stage of treatment would be sedation and X rays but this would be far too expensive. Is there anything else I can do or try? Any suggestions would be welcomed please.

[Beantree]

Very likely she has strained her hip and the usual reason is jumping from a height and twisting; we've had a few cases. Takes up to 6 weeks to resolve, but always has in our case. But in the meantime it is important to look very carefully at your run and coop setup to make sure there is nothing that would result in jumping down more than 30 cm (a foot in old money) and no hard surfaces to jump down onto either.

We've recently had new hens. They are very big and heavy, so to avoid problems we've created a cushion floor under the perches using a layer of wood shavings and opened out feed bags on top. It's working well to the extent that any eggs dropped when they are on the perch (thunder can cause this) don't break or even crack.

[Suze]

Thanks Beantree, that’s really helpful. Their coop is about 1m off the ground with a ramp up to it and they have perches that are probably 40cm off the floor. There is some Aubiose bedding on the floor but its not that thick. I’m now thinking that maybe I should confine her to a cat basket for a while so she cant jump and see how that goes. Is there anything I can give her to help it heal or just continue with water and layers pellets?

[Beantree]

Best not to separate her otherwise re-introduction can be difficult and sometimes extremely difficult. We had two sister Orpingtons. They were only separated for one night and the feathers were flying next morning! If you can't drop the perch (the lower the better) make sure the floor is well cushioned. Is she jumping straight down from the coop. or does she use the ramp? Reason I ask is we have a large cockerel who hurt his hip a few months back and it looked as though he was doing just that; jumping straight out of the coop. So a whole day was spent making new bigger and wider steps so there was plenty of room for him to walk down. Would you believe it! The hens took to them immediately but old boy still wanted to jump, but now it was even further. The result was he gets picked up out of the coop every morning and placed in the run and his hip is OK.

Just continue with the food water. It's just going to take time.

[Suze]

Thanks for the advice! I will add some more cushioning to the floor and see how that goes. I cant lower the perches but I can remove them but that would mean they all sleep on the floor or in the nest boxes. She tends to half jump and half fly in and out of the coop but I think this is because she wont put weight on her leg. She spends most of the day in the coop sitting in the doorway looking out and just comes down for a stretch and some food and water a couple of times a day. 

[Cat tails]

Not to be the barer of bad news... but...

I had a hen that I thought had a sprain and turned out to have Mareks. Her leg was stuck forward somewhat and had no strength in her toes anymore. One of the tell tale signs is odd pupils, or uneven, not round pupils.

It’s just something to keep in mind if it doesn’t resolve like Beantree said.

[Flopsy]

Hi Suze, I have an ex batt with a limp. BHWT advised to give her a quarter of aspirin tablet daily for as long as needed.  Buy 300mg tablet and break into quarters rather than trying to get a whole 150mg tablet down their beak .  Hope she mends soo. 

[Suze]

Thanks for all the advice, I will give her a few more weeks to recover and see how she goes. 

[Luvachicken]

8 hours ago, Suze said:

 The vet suggested next stage of treatment would be sedation and X rays but this would be far too expensive. Is there anything else I can do or try? 

I once had a chicken X rayed but she didn't need to be sedated for it and the actual X ray cost £10.

I think your vet might try to charge you more than he should.

The vets even gave me a copy on a disc so I could look at home, free of charge.

Fingers crossed she heals up soon.

[PZWskye]

Hi! What happened with your limping pullet?