Q Dear Practical Poultry, I've just started keeping Welsummer bantams and a couple of hybrids. From time to time one of my Welsummers goes what I would call 'a little wonky' on her feet, and then seems to be fine for a while before wobbling again. Her excreta is a light brown colour and fairly runny. Please excuse my crude descriptions I spoke to a friend who is experienced in chicken breeding and he gave me some antibiotics to put in the water which I have done this week. The bird seems to cry mare than the rest and is always on the floor and not in the roosts where she has laid the odd egg of late. If you can help me at all I would be grateful for any advice you have to offer.
Thank you.

AThere are a number of things that could be wrong here. The wobbliness could be due too weakness; feel under her breastbone and see how much muscle she has. If the breastbone is very prominent then the hen is underweight. If the keel con just be felt then she is in good condition and we must look elsewhere for a diagnosis.
The wobbliness could be due to leg pain; check her legs and feet to see if there are any swellings around the joints, or if any of the joints are stiff. She may be arthritic or have had a trauma - this depends on whether she was ever normal and if it was a slow or a fast onset condition A trauma causing pain in one or both legs would usually lead too normal bird becoming suddenly lame. Arthritic joints cause gradually increasing lameness that can suddenly increase in pain if they are jarred - so a slightly lame bird getting worse.
She may have had an initial injury that has lead to some damage too joint that is painful intermittently. If she is underweight and the wobbliness is due to weakness, we need to know if she is eating and drinking normally. The droppings vary greatly among birds; diarrhoea has normal white ports to the faeces with a profuse fluid coloured portion the white is the urine and the green/brown port is the faeces). If the antibiotics did not have an effect then a bacterial infection may be involved, but I suspect that this is not the case.
I would usually advise against giving antibiotics to a bird without knowing the problem - if an infection is present then a good guess at least is required at the infecting bacteria so that an antibiotic that will be effective can be given. Certain bacteria are resistant to certain antibiotics. The inability to get on the roost would be expected with either weakness or leg pain, and the extra crying may either be due to pain or her distress at not being able to perch safely with the others.
I'm sorry to be vague but if you con rule out some of the above then we may be able to help. If the hen is underweight but eating well, then worm her. If she has leg pain then there is not a lot that we can give her. Swollen joints can be due to infections, injury to that joint or bone changes due to arthritis. An underweight hen that is off her food would need a fuller check over by an experienced chicken keeper or vet.