Sprained leg?

Hi. A week ago today my Sussex bantam started limping. Suspecting a sprain I kept an eye on her but by Saturday afternoon she didn't want to put any weight on it. Sunday she stayed in the chicken house and the other girls spent most of the day in with her keeping her company . I took her to the vet on Monday and he was none the wiser as to the problem but as the leg had got progressively worse he thought it might be a sprain too so he gave me a dog equivalent of ibuprofen for her (can't remember the name but it's down stairs if it matters!). He told me to keep her in the cat basket so she wouldn't try to move about too much which I have done. I've put her (in the basket) in the chicken house at night with her friends and kept her (in the basket) in the conservatory during the day so she can see people and enjoy some sunshine and company. She is supposed to take the medicine for 2 more days but I have taken her out of the basket a couple of times a day to clean it out and can see there is no improvement what so ever. The vet said there is no sign of any thing broken and possibly there could be some sort of nerve damage but with the leg getting progressively worse it was hard to say. I've looked up Mareks but the symptoms don't seem right - she is about 1 1/2 years of age. Does anyone else have any ideas please? I can only imagine at the moment she'll have to be put down when she goes back to the vets on Monday as it's no life for a chicken just sitting there all day long.

Hello,

If the vet has advised that your Bantam has no fractures then it could take several weeks for a sprain to recover. We would advise that you continue to treat her with medicine to reduce the pain so that she is more comfortable.

There is a possibility that you hen is suffering from Mareks as she is the right age to develop this disease. Sadly Mareks disease does not get better; you could check her for bumble foot and joint swellings as these are often the symptoms.

It may be helpful to take her back to the vet so that he could consider prescribing antibiotics to rule out a bacterial infection of the joint.

In the meantime you can give your Bantam lots of TLC.

Please do keep us informed and send us another message if you would like any further advice.

Kind Regards,

Chicken Vet

Thank you so much for your reply.
Unfortunately when I got back from work yesterday afternoon Daisy was keeled over to one side she couldn't put any weight on the bad side at all. I took her straight to the vets. It does look like she had an infection as the leg was very hot but she had become so listless and unresponsive we decided the kindest thing to do was to put her down, but thank you again for your help.

sorry about Daisy

Chicken Vet said:

There is a possibility that you hen is suffering from Mareks as she is the right age to develop this disease. Sadly Mareks disease does not get better; you could check her for bumble foot and joint swellings as these are often the symptoms.


Chicken Vet

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19 19 bit confused about Mareks, you say that 1 & half is the right age for chickens to get Mareks??? Yet books etc say young ones up to 20ish weeks ??????

Hi Bantam Girl,

We are very sorry to hear about the loss of your hen, it does sound by what you describe from your final vet visit that she was suffering from a nasty infection in her leg.

We also apologise, it seems that we read incorrectly that your hen was ½ a year old instead of 1 ½ years old. Mareks is usually developed between of 16 – 20 weeks of age, if your bird had been that age and was displaying these symptoms it could have been a likely cause.

Infections in feet and legs of hens can be caused by a number of reasons, it is quite common an initial, not very obvious skin wound has allowed bacteria to enter and cause infection. This can come about by a simple scratch to the skin which becomes infected. Check your perches are not too high, as when birds fly down in the mornings they can bang hard into the floor and if shavings are sharp this can be a cause of damage to feet. Check your perches have no rough edges as again splinters can introduce infection and check your run area generally for sharp objects. Obviously none of these may have been the actual cause but they are always things worth bearing in mind when keeping hens.

Best Wishes,

Chicken Vet

Hello again Chicken Vet.
Daisy liked her home comforts and chose to sleep under the wing of our LF Orpington in an old office draw so she didn't hurt herself getting off a perch. However although I haven't found anything lying around recently -there is quite a lot of junk buried under the girls run from when our house was built and I think from what you say it is likely they unearthed something sharp.
If anything happens like this again I think I'll insist on antibiotics as well as a precaution.

Thanks for all your help and advice.

Nicola

Hello Nicola,

We are pleased your investigations of the run area will hopefully prevent anything like this from happening again.

Best Wishes,

Chicken Vet

Hi Nicola
I am sorry you lost your light sussex, I know how much your birds mean to you, and are always well looked after

Sue

Hi Sue, thanks for your reply.
Of course what it means is the girls are wanting a trip to yours for a replacement! :lol:

Regards

Nicola

Bantam Girl said:

Hi Sue, thanks for your reply.
Of course what it means is the girls are wanting a trip to yours for a replacement! :lol:

Regards

Nicola

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You were bad enough last time, like a child in a sweet shop, has you husband forgiven you yet?? :lol: :lol:
I will introduce you to bobble !!