Chickens are very active and enthusiastic animals. These birds run around chasing each other, walk around foraging for food and talk to each other.
If you notice that your chicken is suddenly walking funny you’d be right to worry. This article looks into why this happens,
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Chicken walking funny
If your bird seems unlike itself, you’ll need to know why and how to help your bird get better. This is why your bird may be walking funny:
Egg bound chicken:
Producing and expelling an egg isn’t always easy for birds. Eggs can sometimes get stuck between the bird’s uterus and cloaca, the bird is considered to be egg bound when this happens.
An egg-bound chicken will try to pass an egg but it won’t be able to.
A bird that is egg-bound will walk funny, it will walk like a penguin waddling around.
Other signs of a bird being egg bound are the bird having a lack of appetite, a hard abdomen, the bird straining as it tries to pass the egg, passing wet droppings, and an overall decreased activity.
This condition is fatal if not addressed.
What to do:
You’d need to examine your bird to figure out if it is indeed egg-bound or if there is something else wrong with it. Do this by feeling around her abdomen area, feel for a lump that is shaped and feels like an egg.
If you do feel an egg-like bump on her abdomen then you’d need to leave her in a warm bath to relax her and loosen her muscles, this will hopefully help her release the egg.
If the bath doesn’t help the bird pass the egg then you’d need to get her to a vet.
Egg yolk peritonitis:
This is another illness that has to do with bird eggs. When chickens produce eggs the shell is only applied over the egg just before the egg leaves the bird through the vent.
In some cases, the egg yolk will go off course and will land in the bird’s abdomen. The yolk will cause inflammation in the bird’s abdomen and this is what is called egg yolk peritonitis. It is also called an internally laid egg.
Bacteria love egg yolks because egg yolks are filled with nutrients. If bacteria get to the egg yolk then the bacteria can cause a secondary infection.
Other signs of egg yolk peritonitis include difficulty breathing, pain, a swollen abdomen or vent, depression, matted feathers, egg yolk colored droppings, a penguin-like walk and stance, accumulation of fluid in the abdomen, and sudden death
What to do:
This ailment cannot be treated at home, you’d need to take your bird to the vet to be treated. If you catch the condition early enough, the vet will be able to surgically remove the egg yolk.
If the abdominal cavity is infected with bacteria then this can be treated with antibiotics.
Difficult molt:
Although molting is a normal process for chickens this phenomenon can be painful for birds. If the bird is going through a hard molt (a hard molt is a very painful molt) then the bird may start to walk funny.
The bird will start walking funny, even walking backward and walking sideways, if going through a hard molt.
What to do:
You can’t stop your bird from molting but you can help the bird get through its hard molt a little easier by calming its skin. Do this by misting the bird with either water or aloe vera juice, aloe very juice is vera calming to the bird’s skin.
Lack of nutrients:
Feeding chickens all the nutrients they need can be quite difficult but it must be done, if not fed the right foods birds can develop a nutrient deficiency.
Each bird needs to be fed enough quality balanced feed, namely 130g-160g of nutritionally balanced feed a day depending on their weight. This feed needs to be the correct feed for the bird’s age and species.
Rickets in chickens, for example, can cause birds to have soft bendy bones and this can cause the bird to walk funny. Rickets is caused by a lack of calcium in the bird’s body.
What to do:
You’d need to assess your bird’s diet, figure out why your bird has a shortage of nutrients, and then change your bird’s diet accordingly.
Make sure that you’re feeding the bird the correct nutrients according to the bird’s age, weight, and species.
Toxins:
Birds are very small creatures, they have very efficient bodily systems which makes exposure to toxins more severe. If your bird is exposed to toxins it may start to walk funny, limp, and even have convulsions.
Chickens can be exposed to toxins through molds, heavy metals, poisonous plants, household chemicals, and soil.
Other signs of exposure to toxins include depression in birds, a refusal to eat, weight loss, and having to use their wings to balance,
What to do:
If you think that your bird is exposed to toxins then you’d need to get your bird to a vet as soon as you can. Exposure to toxins can kill birds. The vet will examine your bird and offer treatment if treatment options are available.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other chicken related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Chicken Walking Like It’s Drunk, Chicken Stumbling And Falling Down, Chicken Walking Like A Penguin
