[SJC]

Hi,
Hope somebody might be able shed some light.  I have a 2year old bantam hen who has gone lame.  She is unable to bear any weight on her leg and her toes are curled inward.  She has been to the vets and has been prescribed oral antibiotics and anti inflamatries and she has been confined, she has been on these for 5 days now and there seems to be no improvement.
Initially the leg felt very warm.  I noticed tonight that her hock is swollen and she was very unhappy with me when I touched it.
I have done some reserch and her symptoms seem to fit that she has slipped her tendon, but this tends to be chicks or very young chickens

Does anybody have ideas what it might be or what else I could try.
Thanks

[barley]

I do hope its not mareks disease 

it sounds like those symptoms - try Googeling  ' mareks disease leg paralysis ' see if it sounds like yours symptoms

If it is I'm afraid it is a killer and any other chickens you have will stand a good chance of catching it 

sorry to sound so negative but I can speak from experience - I lost all my birds to this 8 years ago and once you've had it you will only be able to keep vaccinated birds against it from then onwards

hopefully it is a less sinister problem

[SJC]

Hi,

Just a quick update, I have had my little chick back to the vets last night.  She has said that the lameness is due injury and has advised that I should continue giving her anti inflamitry and see if she starts to get better (although she was not optimistic) she also said that the healing time can vary as it does with humans.
So I guess what I am try to ask is has anybody had a chicken who has not been able to use her leg get better and if so was it days / weeks / months?  Also is there anything else I can do to help her she is currently confined on bed rest in the hen house, she has some friends in there with her as I currently have a couple of broodies.
Apart from her leg she is bright eyed and bushy tailed (pardon the expression).
Thanks

[grinling]

how many and what type do you have? have you added recently to your stock?
does she roost inside or out and how high are the roosting bars? when she jumps down from the bar does she land on something hard or soft?
Sometimes they land a bit harder than normal and causes a sprain.
I have the Haynes Manual for chickens which has lots of help in there.

[SJC]

Hi,
I have 12 girls & 1 boy of various breeds and size,I have not add any new stock, they all roost in the house and the floor is covered in soft wood shavings (dust extracted). 

[grinling]

Had a read of Haynes Manual for chickens.
Apart from a hard landing an infection can cause it as well as kidney disease. So carefully check every bird for temperature (feel under wing), breathing is clear, eyes are clear.
Have you wormed the flock recently?

[barley]

so glad to hear it's not Mareks disease 

I wouldn't want anyone to experience that with there beloved hens - I almost gave up keeping chooks when I got it but thankfully I am able to get vaccinated birds from my lovely breeder whom I have dealt with for years 

[SJC]

Update:  I know it has been some time since I posted about this but I feel I should share what has happened since the last post.

After numerous trips to the vets to get antibiotics / inflamatories  and consultations I was told that there was nothing more they could do to help as she was not improving - in fact she was getting worse her toes had all curled inwards like a clenched fist, and I should really think about this little ladies future.  I was not prepared to throw the towel in just yet.  So off home we came I kept her confined (on bed rest) in the coop so she was with her friends.  We continued with the anti inflamatories & antibiotics and her limp did eventully start to improve but her toes were still clenched.  I decided to try and straighten them by putting splints on each toe.  The splints never stayed on past lunch time so we had to redo them every night but it ment that she go about her business with her friends - every night we confined her in the coop so she did not jump down or get pushed from the perch and every morning she was let out.
After 3 weeks of the nightly routine we had seen a massive improvement.  She only had the slightest of limps and her toes were no longer clenched. 

I can now report that she is walking fine her toes are straight.  To this day we do not know what caused the problem but it appears that it was probably due to trauma.  A couple of weeks later she started laying again, but this has since stopped as she is currently broody along with 3 others!!   

[barley]

lovely update thankyou

[New shoot]

She's a lucky girl that you perservered with her treatment.  I love a happy ending 

[Sassy]

Brilliant. Your persistence paid off