Slight limp, sitting and crouching

[mspencer]

Our Light Sussex, normally very perky, chatty and happy hasn't been quite herself recently. She's almost 2 1/2 years old. A few weeks ago she suddenly seemed unhappy and often looked hunched and stopped running for her morning feed. She started spending much of her time sat on the ground and I queried a very slight limp. She most definitely has a limp now and looks distinctly uncomfortable on her legs, particularly her right. She's been sleeping in the nest box too.

We've examined her legs and thighs and can't see or feel anything untoward. None of her scales are lifting so don't think it could be scaly leg. Though I think her shanks are slightly swolen (as they reach her feet) and there is a red area running down the outer side of each shank which I don't think was there before. When she stands, she's generally turning her right foot noticeably inwards.

We have three birds in all. The other two are relative newcomers, we got them ~2 months ago. Both are happy, but one (we discovered) came with a bad chest.. a bit gargly. I wonder whether that is mycoplasma (a previous bird had mycoplasma which we treated on three separate occasions with ?tylan through the vet, to no avail - though she lived for 3 years).

She was definitely unhappier today with a pronounced limp, so I fear this isn't going away by itself. Our vet is great, but readily admits little knowledge of poultry.

My understanding is that poultry, when unwell, go down hill pretty quickly so any practical advice in treating a range of possibilities would be much appreciated.

Mark

 

[chrismahon]

Might be Arthritis, or the chicken equivalent. Could try giving 5ml Cod Liver Oil with Multivitamins to see if it eases her joints and she picks up. Are you using good quality layers pellets like Smallholder with Omega 3 Oils? One of our older birds is getting a bit creaky and doesn't like jumping up to the perch, or more likely off it. She is OK with the one in the run as she lands on grass. How high are your perches?

 

[foxy]

If your light sussex has been a bit under the weather over the last few weeks, it could be that there is a underlying disease which is also responsible for the limp. It is very difficult to give any sort of diagnosis, as there are a number of things which could be causing her to be unwell. I would be suspicious of your two relatively new hens that you bought in, particularly considering the timing of when you first noticed any symptoms, there may be a pathogen they are carrying which has infected your hens.

So yes the vet would be a good idea, although I am afraid that they are unlikely to be able to give you a clear diagnosis unless they are experienced with poultry. Some of the nasties do not have many symptoms apart the obvious ones which are upper respiratory and chest infections, and trauma, these diseases I have alluded too would need tests such as blood work, or sadly a PM to identify.

Are there any other symptoms that indicate a respiratory illness? I think you mentioned Mycoplasma, however the hen would be presenting with sniffles, rattly chest, swollen sinuses, discharge from eyes, ears...(some or all of these symptoms.) etc..Or any other symptoms such a pallor, weight loss? Redness in the legs may not be a problem could just be her veins, although if they are bit swollen could be part of the picture.

The other things to consider of course in the first instance is a high worm or parasitic load (mites or lice) which could be bringing your hen down, although my opinion on parasites is that they tend to have more of an impact on a hen that is already unwell, unless you have an infestation of redmite which easily can knock down a healthy hen. With redmite however, this would mean a heavy infestation and you would be likely to find a few trying to make a meal out of you too! Clues to redmite affecting your hens are a pale comb, reluctance to roost, ruffled feathers. It still is worth checking through to the base of the feathers very carefully, especially around the vent, for evidence of external parasites..lice eggs ...looks like crusty sugar, or Northern Fowl mite, tiny black specks giving a greasy look.

Good luck with your hen, and keep us posted!

 

[mspencer]

Thanks for posting. I've had another good look at her legs today and I think (and hope) she has scaly leg after all. On close inspection, the skin/ fine scales on the sides of her shanks have an 'eczema' like appearance, which I assume are the mites getting under the edges of the smaller scales. Her legs are also looking quite pink, again particularly around the smaller scales and her 'ankles' look slightly swolen. I think the larger scales on the front of her 'wrists' are beginning to lift.

Her legs are cool to the touch, so I dont think it's an infection.

Can someone recommend a fast and effective treatment (not vaseline please, it's messy and has mixed results).

Mark

 

[foxy]

I have heard that painting Benzyl Benzoate on the legs with a small paintbrush is very effective used twice a week (obtained from chemists, I hear can be a bit tricky to get hold off and be prepared for some strange looks! )

I rehomed a cockerel with terrible scaly leg mite last year and treated with a combination of frontline (flea spray for cats) and sudecreme on his legs once a day. The sudacreme also contains a small amount of BB. this method proved very effective, although it took until the next moult for his leg scales moult and renew.

Some older methods involve applying surgical spirit, diesel and even WD40, IMO I wouldn't use as they are pretty caustic, and would be damaging to any new scales or sore exposed skin.

 

[chrismahon]

Our vet does Benzol Benzoate; very cheap it is too. Dilute 50:50 with water and stand bird in a tray brushing it on up the scales. Helps to lift foot and let the toes curl which opens up the scales. They seem to enjoy the instant relief from the irritation and very few struggle. We have only needed one treatment repeated occasionally after 3 months. It takes over a year for the scales to renew.

 

[mspencer]

Thanks again for posting everyone.
@foxy, we have frontline spray for cat flea treatment. For scaly leg, did you spray each day, and how long for? How long is egg withdrawal?

Thanks

 

[mspencer]

Treated Rosie's legs with frontline spray yesterday. Remarkable, she's on her feet this morning and even did a little run for her food. I think we've got a diagnosis!

 

[Bertie & The Chooks]

I rehomed a cockerel with terrible scaly leg mite last year and treated with a combination of frontline (flea spray for cats) and sudecreme on his legs once a day. The sudacreme also contains a small amount of BB. this method proved very effective, although it took until the next moult for his leg scales moult and renew.

Frontline spray is essentially surgical spirit with the drug, so spraying it directly on the legs was probably pretty painful. Really Frontline should be applied to the skin under wings or middle of back(not too close to the tail where glands are) not directly on the legs. It's generally meant to be a single application and then some people apply Vaseline or Sudocreme to the legs for extra treatment and comfort for the bird not together. Frontline should be just as affective and not as painful for the bird on the skin areas where there isn't any broken skin. It works by absorbing into the skin and then is dosed naturally through the bird when the parasites feed. It can last anywhere from 2-8wks in the skin of an animal, depending on the species. Other products for small animals, not chickens, like Stronghold and Advocate work through the bloodstream and can last longer and treat for more species of parasites.

Please do not apply things that are labeled POM-V with out the instruction of a vets. I know there are some very experienced people on this forum, Foxy included. But if your vet has prescribed something for your cat, it is for your cat until they give you instruction otherwise. All it takes is one person to take a part of a post out of context and not bother to ask any further questions before they are dosing daily with Frontline Spot on Drops to their child because they have lice and saw that someone said it treated lice for chickens so why not... 11

Just be careful is all I'm saying ok?

 

[foxy]

Thanks again for posting everyone.
@foxy, we have frontline spray for cat flea treatment. For scaly leg, did you spray each day, and how long for? How long is egg withdrawal?

Thanks

Apologies for not getting back earlier! With regard to the example above I actually used the frontline drops and applied x1 drop the the back of the neck. I believe most poultry keepers use the frontline spray, and in serious infestations use once, with a second application a week later.

A note neither the Frontline drops or spray are liscensed for poultry, as mentioned before I use Frontline as a last resort. It is very difficult however to treat some of this resistant and debilitating mites with the avaialble pharmaceutical armoury we have, so it is often a question of applying experience, common sense and a quick word with a vet if still unsure.

The cockerel I mentioned in my post earlier in the thread was in a very poor way, he had been given 24 hours to be rehomed or culled, as he was the last in a line that spanned 40 years I agreed to rehome him. He was almost lame due to a chronic case of scaly leg, legs were sore and deformed due to the crusts that had formed, in addition the poor lad also was seething with Northern Fowl mite, despite his poor condition he still was rather fiesty! So in an unusually sentimental moment we decided to try and save him.

In this case when making the decision to treat the cockerel, we weighed up the risk, to the animal..would we do more harm? Or should we cull? versus his already sadly distressing conditon. We chose the most effective treatment out there in order to improve his mobility as quickly as possible, generally speaking when poultry go off their legs their prognosis becomes that much worse. In the meantime we bathed his legs in tepid salty water to soften the scales and then applied suducrem to sooth his sore skin. The sudacrem was applied once a day for 2 weeks. The result was that NCTB made a good recovery, put on weight, became very tame and was later rehomed in Scotland to live out his days with (I think..) at least two wives!

I would still keep a close eye on her, as lameness caused by scaly leg mite usually has some fairly obvious signs of mite with thick crusty scales and swollen legs, in these acute cases infection can occur requiring a course of anti-biotics. Good luck and please keep us posted!

I

 

[Bertie & The Chooks]

Thanks again for posting everyone.
@foxy, we have frontline spray for cat flea treatment. For scaly leg, did you spray each day, and how long for? How long is egg withdrawal?

Thanks

Apologies for not getting back earlier! With regard to the example above I actually used the frontline drops and applied x1 drop the the back of the neck. I believe most poultry keepers use the frontline spray, and in serious infestations use once, with a second application a week later.

A note neither the Frontline drops or spray are liscensed for poultry, as mentioned before I use Frontline as a last resort. It is very difficult however to treat some of this resistant and debilitating mites with the avaialble pharmaceutical armoury we have, so it is often a question of applying experience, common sense and a quick word with a vet if still unsure.

The cockerel I mentioned in my post earlier in the thread was in a very poor way, he had been given 24 hours to be rehomed or culled, as he was the last in a line that spanned 40 years I agreed to rehome him. He was almost lame due to a chronic case of scaly leg, legs were sore and deformed due to the crusts that had formed, in addition the poor lad also was seething with Northern Fowl mite, despite his poor condition he still was rather fiesty! So in an unusually sentimental moment we decided to try and save him.

In this case when making the decision to treat the cockerel, we weighed up the risk, to the animal..would we do more harm? Or should we cull? versus his already sadly distressing conditon. We chose the most effective treatment out there in order to improve his mobility as quickly as possible, generally speaking when poultry go off their legs their prognosis becomes that much worse. In the meantime we bathed his legs in tepid salty water to soften the scales and then applied suducrem to sooth his sore skin. The sudacrem was applied once a day for 2 weeks. The result was that NCTB made a good recovery, put on weight, became very tame and was later rehomed in Scotland to live out his days with (I think..) at least two wives!

I would still keep a close eye on her, as lameness caused by scaly leg mite usually has some fairly obvious signs of mite with thick crusty scales and swollen legs, in these acute cases infection can occur requiring a course of anti-biotics. Good luck and please keep us posted!

I

one drop or not, it's the incorrect dosage for the size of animal. each size contains a liquid with the same dose, be it one drop or two it's still the same dosage. It's just more of the fluid to cover the body with that dose. For example, you can't use a large dog dosage on a small cat just by only putting some of the liquid on from the pipette. It's still too much and you can seriously injure your pets doing so(many people have). I think you got lucky using the drops personally. Glad the bird pulled through though. I guess i feel strongly about it because i've witnessed poor cats and small dogs going into renal failure and seizures from owners 'self medicating' with their other pets products. it's not very nice.