Chickens will try to mask signs of being ill, this is ingrained in them.
If they were to show they were in pain, or that there is something wrong, predators would more likely attack them, but some signs of an illness cannot be masked.
If you notice your chicken walking low on the ground you’d be right to be worried, so why does this happen? This article looks into it
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Chicken walking low on the ground:
Chickens having walking problems is uncommon, on top of that, birds can be very secretive about their walking problems even with their owners. If you do notice a difference in your bird’s walking, congratulations on noticing a difference.
There are a variety of reasons why your bird may be walking low on the ground. These include:
The bird’s saddle:
Hen saddles are usually used on chickens as a way to protect the bird’s skin and feathers from roosters. A rooster will sometimes mount a hen and pull a hen’s feathers out as he mates with her, this can damage her skin.
The saddle keeps the rooster from holding onto, and ripping the hen’s feathers out when he mounts her during mating.
If the hen’s feathers are already ripped out, and you put a saddle on her, the saddle may hit sensitive parts of the bird as the feathers regrow.
This will cause the bird to walk low on the ground or squat walk, the bird will do this because it is uncomfortable or in pain.
What to do:
This isn’t a major issue, you can remove the bird’s saddle if the bird walking low on the ground bothers you but this will leave the hen vulnerable to the rooster.
If the hen has no saddle, this leaves her open to the rooster mounting her and ripping her feathers out.
If you don’t want this to happen, you can leave the saddle on.
Molting:
Molting may be a natural and normal thing that happens to birds, chickens included, but this process is still uncomfortable for birds.
If your bird is molting, then this may be why your bird is walking low on the ground. It’s walking like that because it feels uncomfortable
What to do:
You can’t stop a bird from molting, molting is a natural process, and you can’t stop their feathers from growing out. What you can do is help relieve the bird’s pain by misting the bird regularly.
Misting the bird will minimize the pain and irritation on the bird’s skin. You can use water to mist the bird or you can use aloe vera juice, aloe vera juice is very soothing to the skin.
An injury:
Chickens can be quite fragile animals, their toes and legs can become injured by other chickens, larger animals, humans, or objects.
An injury can be very uncomfortable, or painful, for the bird and can cause the bird to walk low on the ground.
Birds can also develop an infection from the injury. This can cause the bird to be even more uncomfortable and cause it to walk low to the ground.
What to do:
Figuring out what’s wrong with your bird is the first step toward helping it. Perform an exam on your bird looking for any injuries that your bird may have sustained.
You’d need to tend to the injury after finding it.
Do this by thoroughly cleaning the wound, removing any foreign particles or objects from the wound, like thorns, splinters, glass shards, metals, etc, and then treating the injury with an antibiotic spray.
Finish off with a bandage if needed as well as with a salve or spray antibiotic.
Egg yolk peritonitis:
If your bird is walking close to the ground, and if the bird hasn’t laid for several days, then the bird may have egg yolk peritonitis.
Egg yolk peritonitis happens when the egg yolk moves into the abdominal cavity rather than the oviduct. The lining of the abdomen becomes infected by bacteria and inflamed when this happens.
Egg yolk peritonitis makes it difficult for the bird to walk and can cause the bird to walk low on the ground
What to do:
You’d need to take the bird to the vet if you think it’s suffering from this ailment, the vet will properly diagnose the bird.
If it is found that the bird does indeed have egg yolk peritonitis then the vet will drain the fluid accumulated in the abdomen and give the bird antibiotics to treat the infection.
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 Lifting Legs High When Walking, Chicken Hunched Up Tail Down, Chicken Walking Sideways