Strange walking hen

[Gorsty]

Morning folks

My 3 yr old hen Violet is going through her moult and is at the "hedgehog" stage but luckily she has managed to hold on to quite a few of old feathers which is perhaps as well as it is mightily cold this morning;

Anyhow, when I let the girls this morning, Violet is walking really weird. Looks drunk in fact - I though at first she may have hurt one of her legs but having watched her for a while she starts walking normally and then within a few seconds her legs seem to buckle and she's almost at ground level. Well weird - she's still keen to eat and keep up with the others but there's obviously something amiss. I wonder if it might be neurological or maybe a deficiency of some sort as the moult does take it out of them doesn't it. They have access to grit and oyster shell and are fed layers pellets so I wonder if anyone has any ideas as to what it might be.

Kind regards

Jan

[Nicos]

Hi Jan,
Lovely to hear from you!

I've not come across this, but I am aware that growing new feathers requires a lot of protein.
I wonder if her leg muscles have gone weak because of this?
If that's the case , maybe upping her protein intake in the form of treats might help ? Eg scrambled eggs, mealworms etc....

Just a thought!

[Gorsty]

Hi Nicos

Yes -I have some of those dried mealworms and some eggs of course - will give it a go. MOH wonders if she might have had a mini stroke as she seems to go off to one side. She does seem perky enough though - it took me a little while to catch her this morning to examine her! Crop was empty so it's not sourcrop and there's nothing else obvious.

Might video her and then try to figure out how to put it on here to see if anyone else can help.

Thanks for your thoughts

[Zelenina]

Could it be Marek's disease?

[muddled]

mareks was my first thought but, having never seen it firsthand, I don't have anything concrete to offer. Sorry.

[Gorsty]

Hello there - have had a look at Mareks and fingers crossed it's not that.

I have been watching her quite a bit today and she seems to be favouring one leg so I wondered whether she had a thorn in in her foot or damaged herself in someway - can't see any thorn but she is a bit of a Houdini and always flying over the fence so I wonder if she may have tried to fly and crash landed (cos no flight feathers) and maybe has simply hurt her leg????? Nothing appears to be broken but she definitely tries to rest it.

Anyhow MOH has made a video of her so will see if we can put a link on here later on so that you can see what's what.

Just hope and pray it's not Mareks - I know she was vaccinated when she was young but not sure what against.

Bye for now

Jan

[Nicos]

Could be a sprained knee/ hip joint as you suggest!

Why do we always think of the worst!

Fingers crossed it's a bruise/ mild sprain....they will take a week or so to get less painful!

[muddled]

If she was vaccinated against anything, it will have been mareks so (phew!) it's almost certainly not that.

Probably as you say, a sprain.
Mealworms and cuddles it is then! Happy days

[Scarlet]

I'm with Noco's, often birds that take a long time to feather up/or moult during a cold spell need extra protein. If you are feeding scraps, kitchen waste etc it's best to stop for a few weeks. Eggs, mealworms, are great and a little poultry spice wouldn't hurt either.
It may well be worth looking in her ears too as ear infections can make them wobbly. Bumble foot is another - check the fleshy part on the underside of her feet.

[kathyd]

One of my friends had a bird that's been staggering whilst moulting too, but seems better as her feathers re-grow. One of mine wobbled a tiny bit but then stopped, so I assumed she'd stumbled over a pinecone or something... I've not seen this before, wonder what's going on this year?!