My chicken is limping and her leg bends forward. What should I do?

Thanks for reaching out about Chicky and including photos. A physical examination must be made to determine which of these it is, and each will require a different treatment plan. There are some infectious diseases that can cause this also like bacterial infections or Mycoplasma gallinacium. Provide good diet and husbandry, especially heat support. Good luck.

Hello. If you can keep her indoors, that would be best. You could also start her on an antibiotic made for poultry available at your feed coop. Other than that, make sure she eats & drinks, & if the foot gets worse or does not seem to be healing, please consider having her seen by your veterinarian. This can cause your hen quite a bit of pain & she may need medication to help. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Ideally Stella needs a vet visit to asses. She could have a fracture or dislocation or make have a viral infection suck as Marek's disease that can affect the nerves of the leg. In many cases a fracture or dislocation in a hen requires sedation to attempt to fix but because they are two legged animals it requires a lot of TLC and nursing care to help them recover. She needs to be kep inside and have a sling fashioned to help her stand upright. She may need help cleaning herself. And in the case of bone injury she should have pain medication. Many times culling or euthanasia is chosen for chickens with leg injuries because of the difficulty in recovery.

If Sugar hasn't improved with 2 weeks of confinement I would suggest a vet visit to one that sees chickens. Make sure that her foot isn't swollen or any ulcers that may be bumblefoot. Other possibilities include trauma, spinal lesion or mareks There is currently no treatment for mareks. http://articles.extension.org/pages/68259/mareks-disease http://articles.extension.org/pages/68294/causes-of-lameness-in-poultry

It looks like she may have some mites going on if you're seeing them. Extended exposure to mites and other parasites can cause anemia which may make birds weak, unable to stand or move, etc. Taking care of the mites with a mite spray/and providing dust baths, and deworming all the birds to remove internal parasites can help lower the parasite load and help prevent anemia. Moving your sick hen to an isolated hospital area, removing as many mites and debris as you can, checking for visible wounds and treating them, and giving her close access to food and water may help, however if her symptoms continue or worsen, or other birds become ill, seeking vet care is best.

Going to the vet and having the fluid drained may be a good first step to see if it helps kick the leg back into healing and provides some overall relief for your hen. If it continues to fill back up, or worsens, then amputation may be needed, however it is best if your vet examines it as they know the ongoing case best and can better make that determination. If you do end up needing to amputate the leg, making sure Greyee has easy access to food, water, nest boxes and perches so that she can adjust to the change is best.

It sounds like Bink is extremely ill and needs to be seen by a vet ASAP. It is possible there is a wound that got infected, an underlying illness causing his symptoms, or other underlying problem which needs to be treated. If he is kept with a flock, it is best to remove him from the flock to prevent being picked on and to prevent the spread of any illness to other birds. You can keep him separated and with easy access to food and water, or try syringe feeding, however if he is very weak and not moving much at all, and has visible swelling or wounds, seeking vet care immediately is needed.