6 year old hen lifts legs up and then streches them back when she walks.

[swadle]

I have a six year old hen who has started to walk really strange. She lifts her leg up them puts it back like to stretch then puts it down. She does it with both feet. when she walks. I checked her feet and they do not have anything wrong with them. She eats and drinks and comes down out of the coop every morning and goes back up. She does not perch on the roost any more. She lays on the floor. Can anyone tell me what they may think is the issue? I noticed her doing this a month or so but thought she was just stiff and stretching. Thanks

 

[Eggcessive]

They do this normally when they are stretching, but can you post a short video to YouTube if you see it again? Is she lifting the leg behind her or in front? Some chickens won't go up to roost possibly due to an injury making it difficult to get up there, but sometimes if they have become very low in pecking order, they may be reluctant. How high are your roosts? I have been rethinking the height of mine recently, possibly lowering them to about 2 feet instead of 4 with a 3 foot step.

 

[Yemimah]

She could just be showing signs of her old age. Some breeds having greater health in their old age than others. Some are not built for endurance. What breed is she?

 

[swadle]

She is a Silver Laced Wyandotte. Sh is probably getting close to being 7 years old.

 

[swadle]

Its not high I use ladder rungs so they are probably 12 inches from the floor. She was one of the top. The other chickens don't bug her and get out of her way.

 

[Cluckcluck1215]

She is Proboly fine, but stretching.Not to be odd, but does she stretch her wing out aswell, like a ballerina?My hens and duck do it all the time.
Video might be best.

 

[swadle]

I will see if I can get a video. She isn't stretching. That is what I thought at first.. She does it every step unless she is running. Very strange.

 

[BantamLover21]

7 years old is pretty old for a chicken, so she could be showing signs of age and possibly arthritis. I would give her some poultry vitamins/electrolytes and check her for any signs of mites/lice, which can cause weakness and make birds susceptible to other problems. Other than that, and making sure she isn't getting picked on by other hens, I don't think there is much you can do.

I've seen hens occasionally do the leg stretching thing you're describing and be perfectly healthy, but they didn't do it constantly. One hen in particular "high-stepped" after sitting down for a while and at other random times, but walked normally for the majority of the time.

 

[swadle]

Heres a video. She is mainly high stepping but at around 34 seconds she does the stretch thing. She some times does that all the time every step.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would use the vitamin supplement. It might not be the cause of her odd gait, but chickens who have been internal layers and other reproductive disorders can have a lot of varied symptoms including an odd gait. Some may waddle, walk like a duck, or have a more upright posture. She looks to be pretty energetic, so it just might be something to do with her age. Walking back more on the hocks or curled toe paralysis is usually from a riboflavin deficiency, but she doesn't appear to be doing that. Sometimes in Mareks they can do some high stepping, but she may have suffered an injury or some nerve damage.