I am so sorry to hear about your hen..... I recently had a similar problem with one of my ducks... she withdrew her leg from use and we found that she had twisted a tendon so badly that it was on top of her leg instead of on the back side.... we were told that surgery would be necessary to repair the delicate leg of a duck and I would suppose that the chicken would be the same. We were told to wrap it and hope for the best since the surgery was iffy and very costly.... we wrapped it and the circulation was constricted and in 24 hours , there were quarter size blood blisters in the webs of her foot... we took off the wrapping to allow the circulation to return and called the vet again....she said that was the problem with working with such small appendages and we were best to see how she handled her disability.... she is still in the house in a cage after two months, she has learned to hobble about and keep her balance but the webs of her feet dried and crumbled away from the short period of lost circulation.... and the vet says she is pretty much as good as she will get at this point so we are building her a special 'garden' near the house with her own small pond and dog house so she does not have to compete with the other ducks...she has a special friend in one of our older roosters and he has gone down hill since she has been in the house so we plan to put them together in the new Garden, lol..... short of surgery, if there is a broken bone, the best you can do is 'splint' it and hope for some kind of mending but from our experience, those are tender little legs so your chances are 50/50.....chances are once it is splinted, she will learn to maneuver about on her own but probably will never walk normally again.... I know that is not what you wish to hear and I am just sharing experience....good luck and do keep us posted on her progress.....

I've had several gimpy hens who got along just fine, I'd give her a chance to recover. I had one hen who broke her thigh and spent two months on a towel on my kitchen floor, just healing. She did great and ate and drank like normal, when healed she went right back into the flock.

As long as your girl is otherwise perky, normal, eating/drinking and showing no other symptoms, it's likely a break or a strain. I'd keep her from jumping up on things and warm and quiet, isolate her from the others so they don't go after her and force her to try and get away.

Watch her closely, though. There are several serious diseases that have as one of the initial symptoms leg problems. If she develops anything other than a leg problem, post the symptoms here.

Velvet ~:>

thanks so much for writing back. that is useful advice. now i am trying to decide if she has other symptoms. what specifically should i look for?

right now she is laying in the bathroom, all splayed out with her wing out, she doesnt appear to have drank any water. she eats when she is given something new and it is put in front of her. im not sure that i would describe her as "perky" by any means.

she seems to have gotten worse from when i initially noticed that she was having trouble moving around. she could kind of walk then, now she can barely stand.

thanks again, i appreciate the helpful words.

well, the hen is still alive. we made a little pen for her. she isnt getting any worse but she still seems to fall over a lot. always falls to the right. but im starting to wonder if maybe she has a neurologic problem, her left eye wont open all the way and she keeps wacking her head against stuff. has anyone else ever seen something like this?

Hound Dog:
You can take her to an Avian Vet in your area. I took a couple hens in to an Avian Vet in my area and it only cost $25. Just do a search on google and you'll find one. Please don't let her suffer, help her get well by doing something. Let us know how you make out...:)
Becky

How is your hen doing?

With the further info you posted I'm wondering about maybe a head cold that might be interfering with her balance--does she have any kind of watery discharge from her eyes or nostrils, any sneezing or gasping, is her face swollen? What are her poops like? When she pecks at food, does she get it accurately or does she miss it a lot, like peck just to the right of it or something? Does she seem in pain at all, that you would suspect a broken bone (does she jump or yell when you squeeze her leg/thigh/wing for example)? Or, a neurological problem like swelling of the brain, caused by either illness or a blow to the head. All are treatable, the neurological/brain swelling especially with OTC stuff.

Can you give us an update?

Velvet ~:>

actually, the hen is coming along pretty well. she has a weird, squinty eye and she still falls a little to the right but she runs with all the rest of the hens. i think she'll be fine.