Limping hen

[Twinkle]

Noticed yesterday that one of our veteran ladies is limping.... when walking she seems to overextend one of her legs and carefully place it down, almost goose-stepping with it.
Checked her over, had a good feel of both legs at the same time and didn't feel any difference, no obvious swelling or deformity.
As a precaution today I separated her, didn't let her go out ranging with the others and just kept her in a box with some pellets and water, hoping she'd rest, but she wouldn't sit down, just stood there, daft ha'porth.
Will rest her again tomorrow - she seems OK in herself, eating and drinking fine...

Anyone any ideas ?
Vet really isn't an option as the charges are astronomical here...

[matthew2riches]

She might just want some attention - lol

Keep an eye on her. Maybe just give her foot a bath in warm water to stimulate the blood?

[Nicos]

Knee /hip strain????

Box rest for a few days/weeks would sort out a horse...few days maybe for a chook????

[frias]

Poor old girl. It's so hard to find out what's wrong with a chicken isn't it. Whenever one of mine is off colour and I try to segregate her, she just seems to want to get back to the others. Hope she's OK soon.

[-pat m]

Not sure about specific advice but I have a few oap’s here with me – They were my first flock and I keep them away from my main flock to while away their days occasionally they get a few ailments and like you won’t be taking them to the V-E-T (the cat is on my lap so didn’t want to say it hence the spelling) I have had a few dilemmas major feather loss, lethargy, (paralysis which lasted for 48 hours but full recovery) but ultimately once poorly the ones that have not made it through haven’t hung around for long – I wont let any chicken of mine suffer through illness but only one has every put me into that position- So all the time they are drinking and eating hopefully rest will sort it out best of luck and keep us informed.

Regards
Pat

[Twinkle]

Thanks for all the advice
It's cold and wet here at the moment - you'd think she'd be grateful for a cosy straw-filled box in the garage wouldn't you? Food within a beak's reach.
She can have another couple of days resting and see what happens - I'll keep you posted, and thanks again

[Twinkle]

update - she was worse this evening - Mr Twink caved in and rang the V-E-T for advice... he agreed to see her for a tenner (usually €35 consultation charge !!)

Upshot is, we're doing the right thing, he can't find anything obvious, rest her for another 2-3 days and see if there's any change.
Glad we were doing the right thing.
Felt a bit daft being so sentimental, but this is one of our first chickens,and she was kind of my daughter's pet (we had one each)

[Nicos]

fingers crossed for her!xx

[Suechooks]

We're mostly softies when it comes to poorly chooks - you're not alone!

[Twinkle]

quick update - we initially said we'd give her a week, there was no improvement so I rang my neighbour, a farming lad who agreed to despatch her for me.
When I took her round, he took one look at her and said despite the limping, she looked fairly healthy, wouldn't do the deed and said just to give her some more time.

She was miserable shut in the box so we put an extra nest box in the henhouse for her to sit in and left her in with the others. For a few days, the other veteran hen picked on her something rotten - leaping on her back having a really good peck and a nip, but gradually she started hobbling about in the run, and could manage the ladder in and out of the house without assistance.

Supplemented her with small amounts of cat-food for extra protein, she's not laying any more.

Anyway - today she's managed to put some weight on the leg. Still seems very tired and just sits and naps, but she's attempting to go out with the rest of them... so I'm delighted with her.

[HayleyB]

Ex-batts sometimes arrive with a bad limp, they get bruised or strained when they are dragged out of the cages One of our newies had a really bad limp when she arrived, could hardly put her foot down let alone much else but I couldn't seperate her from the beginning as she would have had a much harder time integrating on her own later. She managed to keep out of trouble and after a week was getting better. Now we can't tell which one it was

[Ashbylife]

One of ours went into a panic when we had a strange dog visiting and flew into the living room windows. She limped really badly afterwards as well as going into a complete decline (wouldn't come out of the ark, hunched up, comb down and pale pink, generally looked as though her days were over), but we couldn't find any sign of a break and kept tempting her with mash and poultry spice etc - very slowly she improved and now there is no sign of a limp at all, but I reckon it was probably a couple of months before she really started using it properly. Hope yours improves with time.

[Twinkle]

I started nicknaming her "Mrs Doyle" due to her technique of getting down the henhouse ladder...
She'd stand at the top for ages contemplating the best way to get down, then give up and just hurl herself at the ground, get up and do the indignant ruffle of feathers.

Just like on Father Ted

[Glutton4...]

I never watched Father Ted, but I have to say it sounds hilarious anyway !