Help please! Rooster can’t walk well

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aldanfac

Songster
Apr 16, 2023
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Maryland, USA
Hi so I have these 2 roosters they are amazing sweet boys, they have stayed together because they actually really are like best friends, the healthy one is the boss and established his role early on after they had a little dominance fight. It didn’t cause any injuries but the lower rank rooster did become more skittish after. This was all over 5 months ago, now over the past 3 weeks I’ve noticed the skittish rooster actually kinda wobbles on his left leg. I don’t know if he’s always done this because the way he moves is so skittish I just never noticed it until recently. Well today he is really struggling to walk, he’s basically laying down the entire time but it’s pretty clear his right leg is decently strong and there is some sort of intolerance to stand on his left leg.. he also has since developed a poopy butt which makes me sad… I have checked around for injuries that I may have missed but there is NOTHING! I also checked him for injuries after their first little scuffle and there were no injuries.. I am at a loss for what is going on, all my other chickens are doing very good but there is clearly something going on with this guy.. he still has a good demeanor but is clearly getting worse by whatever this is.. anyone know or have any ideas what’s going on?! In the early stages of me having chickens there were a few issues with cocci and stuff but I haven’t had any problems in a while… here’s a photo of him laying down :/ he’s still happy and active though
IMG_9577.jpeg
 
Does he have any signs of Mareks disease, such as lying with one leg forward and one leg under or back? Does the bad leg seem numb or paralyzed, and does he use his wings to balance? With 2 roosters together, he may have been injured, or he could have been born with a leg issue or leg bone deformity. Varus or valgus deformities are common and may cause one or both legs to become bowed in or outward. When I have kept more than one rooster in a flock the subordinate one always seems to become weaker. Hard to know what exactly is wrong, but watch for the other rooster who may pick on him as he has leg or walking issues. It might be better for him to be in a wire dog crate or pen with food and water. Watch out for breast blisters or callouses over the keel/breast bone which can happen with continued pressure over the keel bone.
 
Eggcessive said:
Does he have any signs of Mareks disease, such as lying with one leg forward and one leg under or back? Does the bad leg seem numb or paralyzed, and does he use his wings to balance? With 2 roosters together, he may have been injured, or he could have been born with a leg issue or leg bone deformity. Varus or valgus deformities are common and may cause one or both legs to become bowed in or outward. When I have kept more than one rooster in a flock the subordinate one always seems to become weaker. Hard to know what exactly is wrong, but watch for the other rooster who may pick on him as he has leg or walking issues. It might be better for him to be in a wire dog crate or pen with food and water. Watch out for breast blisters or callouses over the keel/breast bone which can happen with continued pressure over the keel bone.
Click to expand...
He never fully lies down so the other leg kinda is under him but he usually is using it to prop himself up somehow but he’s still down, the other leg will always be out infront on him almost, you can kind of see it in the picture above. He does use his wings to balance but it doesn’t seem like the left leg is completely gone. He still will kind of use it but it’s definitely the problem leg. I’ve been so worried about Mareks but none of my other chickens have ever been affected like this? I always thought he was just the under dog rooster so he was a little weird and skittish but this isn’t looking like that anymore
 
What is his age? Mareks usually shows up in the first 8 months of life, but could become symptomatic after adding a new chickens to the flock, or after some stressor. An injury would be more likely, but time will tell. There is some testing that can be done on live chickens, but if you lose him or eventually put him down, most state vet labs will do testing after a necropsy/autopsy. Maryland has a state vet pathologist. I will send a list of labs. Here you go:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html
 
Eggcessive said:
What is his age? Mareks usually shows up in the first 8 months of life, but could become symptomatic after adding a new chickens to the flock, or after some stressor. An injury would be more likely, but time will tell. There is some testing that can be done on live chickens, but if you lose him or eventually put him down, most state vet labs will do testing after a necropsy/autopsy. Maryland has a state vet pathologist. I will send a list of labs. Here you go:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html
Click to expand...
He is about a year now, he was hatched sometime end of April early May last year, thank you so much for your help, what do you think I could do to make him more comfortable right now? The poopy butt also give me a little worry that there is like parasites involved or something but again my other chickens are great.. any good tips like a vitamin or something I could give to see if there’s any improvement?
 
I would deworm him thoroughly and afterwards treat him with vitamin B complex and Vitamin E.

His poopy butt needs a good soak and wash to prevent deadly flystrike. Trimming back overabundant butt fluff will help him to stay clean.
 
Last edited:
LaFleche said:
I would deworm him thoroughly and afterwards treat him with vitamin B complex and Vitamin E.

His poopy butt needs a good soak and wash to prevent deadly flystrike. Trimming back overabundant butt fluff will help him to stay clean.
Click to expand...
I am working on deworming but the medicine won’t be here until tomorrow.. this morning I thought he died as he buried his head and wouldn’t come out of the coop… I got him up and he’s back to his normal self but is barely walking at all now.. he’s fully separated from the rest of the flock now. He eats well and drinks and is very alert, he still makes noises like happy and when he sees something but will not even attempt to crow now.. this is also clearly affecting his left leg severely, I tried doing a strength test to see how good his legs are and the right leg is still sooooo strong and could fully support his body but the left leg has completely become useless to him… what does this sound like I’m genuinely so lost.. I would have culled him after this morning if it wasn’t for how much he is fighting and is still active. My heart breaks for him
 
You might want to try him in a chicken sling if he is separated. Some chickens will tolerate them, others will keep escaping. You can place food and water in front of him in those. Take him out to sleep or stretch periodically. If you put him down or lose him , before that happens, I would contact your state vet to get a necropsy and testing for Mareks. Here is a list with 2 for MD on it:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html
 

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