A
Anonymous
Guest
Hi,
We've had hens for three years. Of the 6 we have just now two are three years old, the other a year.
About a month ago one of the yearlings became paralysed from the legs down. She can move herself about but using wings rather than actually walking. Her chest was bare of feathers also. I spoke to the person we got them from and he said he thought she was simply very broody (which made sense, as another lass had also gone broody and had a feather-less chest), so we put her on eggs and hoped for the best. However both hens got bored and gave up with the idea of sitting on eggs (we had the same problem last year) so we gave up. However, the hen I'm concerned about is still as immotile as she was. She's bright, and eating and drinking well, just not moving.
Then this morning we noticed that one of our other hens was trying to cluck but no sound was coming out. This was obviously perturbing her and she'd shake her head as though trying to rectify the problem, but to no avail.
So... are the two cases linked and can they be rectified? I have no problems taking them to the vet (though my housemate would happily kill them both) but wondered if anyone could help before I spend lots of money.
Any help gratefully received.
Many thanks.
We've had hens for three years. Of the 6 we have just now two are three years old, the other a year.
About a month ago one of the yearlings became paralysed from the legs down. She can move herself about but using wings rather than actually walking. Her chest was bare of feathers also. I spoke to the person we got them from and he said he thought she was simply very broody (which made sense, as another lass had also gone broody and had a feather-less chest), so we put her on eggs and hoped for the best. However both hens got bored and gave up with the idea of sitting on eggs (we had the same problem last year) so we gave up. However, the hen I'm concerned about is still as immotile as she was. She's bright, and eating and drinking well, just not moving.
Then this morning we noticed that one of our other hens was trying to cluck but no sound was coming out. This was obviously perturbing her and she'd shake her head as though trying to rectify the problem, but to no avail.
So... are the two cases linked and can they be rectified? I have no problems taking them to the vet (though my housemate would happily kill them both) but wondered if anyone could help before I spend lots of money.
Any help gratefully received.
Many thanks.
