[Bimmie]

I've got a Light Sussex POL, bought her 4 weeks ago. She has gone light and is gaping, is eating well but obviously not thriving. Today she keeps falling over due to her feet curling when she's walking.
Because I bought her from a commercial breeder she has been vaccinated for Mareks etc so am at a loss as to what is wrong with her. Does anyone have any ideas? I noticed that Henbane posted a thread in 2007 with a bantam with similar symptoms. Does anyone know the outcome of this please? Like Henbane if I straighten her toes she can stand up OK and doesn't seem to have any pain in her legs or feet. Some of my other birds have had sneezing/snicking in the last couple of weeks but all seem well now.
Can anyone help please?

[Silkychicks]

Hello Bimmie, sorry to hear your little bird is not well.

I am not very experienced but the first thing that pops in my head is: is she getting all the vitamins and minerals she needs? So: could there be someting wrong with her uptake of nutrients?

What are you feeding them? Are you giving them snacks or left overs from your food?
This might sound odd, but I am thinking of sugar: I know that when a canary gets sugar it kills the little nerves and they are less and less able to strech their toes. When the sugar intake is stopped they recover.

I hope your hen will be fine soon.

[Bimmie]

Hi Silkychicks
She`s fed on layers and mixed corn the same as the others. I have given her  Nutridrops so I think she`s getting all the vitamins she needs. I give them a treat of sunflower seeds and sweet corn each day and sometimes grapes. She's not gaping today and one leg seems worse than the other (one leg is cold the other warm) so am thinking maybe an  jury but nothing is obvious and she doesn't flinch when touched. I am not so worried that she is sick today,yesterday  I feared she might have Mareks or some such but she has been vaccinated. The others have picked on her badly so will have to isolate her. I am really at a loss what to do.

[traacyken]

hi blimmie not sure about this in chickens but many years ago took on a budgie that was tiny and had curled feet, the guy said it was weak and was going to cull it but i said i would take it. was about 15 years ago now and  i looked it up and said it was a or poss a deficency i remember getting a tiny dropper and giving her it it didnt work and was a long time ago she lived a good few years but it want what that prob a weak one of the bunch so to speak def worth google anything is worth a try esp natural remedies x

[Silkychicks]

Hi Bimmie,

sounds like good food.. But the actual food is not allways the cause of deficiency.
I don't know.. My Ad had some trouble with her foot (it turned out to be bumblefoot) and because of that I did a lot of reading about 'foot-trouble'. I remember reading vitamin-B deficiency could cause curled feet..

Did you speak to your vet? How is her poo? Do you know if she has worms? Was she wormed recently?
Does her crop get empty propperly over night?

[Sassy]

Unfortunately vaccinations are not infallible and so you should keep this at the back of your mind whilst looking at other possibilities which, I am sure, are endless. Good luck

[Bimmie]

Hi thanks for all your suggestions. She's still the same this morning, have put her in a little run as she can't stand v well and the others are pretty brutal with her. I'm going to give her some vitamins and see how that works. Will keep fingers crossed and let you know.

[BabbyAnn]

From feet curling when walking to not standing, it doesn't bode well in any animal.  I think a visit to the vets might be necessary for peace of mind and to prevent a small problem turning into a major one or worse, death.  I have noticed that despite the cuteness factor, chickens are incredulously vicious to each other especially when one of them is ill

[Sassy]

I really feel that you should separate her from the others. They are being nasty because she represents a threat to the flock in that she is encouraging predators (if they were in the wild - the hens cannot differentiate!). In a worse case scenario they could kill her but are making her life miserable anyway.

[tosca100]

We have one with two curled feet. No idea how or when it happened, just noticed she was losing her balance one day. Luckily it is one of our first chicks so didn't have to put up with the adults while she learned to balance. Now you wouldn't know, except she tends to run in spurts as it is easier for her than walking, and very occasionally she will fall off the perch if jostled. But she is fine and looks well, and has no trouble scratching about.

Our biggest hen came with one curled foot. Her biggest problem is that she can't outrun the cockerel! He tries to catch the more agile ones but gives up and goes for the easy option. Not that she seems to mind! He often sits with her while she's in the nest box too.

[Bimmie]

Just to let you know I separated her into a small run and booked her into the vets. The gales on Thursday completely smashed her coop leaving her lying in the garden, unfortunately too stressed to go to the vets and she died yesterday. I think the stress killed her as she seemed to be getting a little better.

[tosca100]

So sorry to hear that. Poor girl.

[BabbyAnn]

  so sad

[snowdrops]

Oh poor little girl.

[Sassy]

So sorry. You tried so hard and were beaten by circumstances totally beyond your control!