Pullet with Hurt Foot

Hi All,

I am writing for my neighbor who has recently begun keeping backyard chickens – I am helping him along the way and now need to ask for your help.

One of the pullets (1 to 2 months old) has a hurt foot (I wonder if she may have been dropped?). This happened about a week ago – the top of the foot-pad (where the toes come together) was swollen and bluish. As she was limping we separated her from the rest of the chickens. The next day she looked much better – she was more mobile and I thought for sure she would be able to return to the coop with a day or two more of rest. That I did not hear from my neighbor I took it as a good sign.

Three days later I returned to my neighbor's to find her almost immobile – she hops a little but does not put any weight on her foot. She has also lost weight and is noticeably smaller than her pullet counterparts. I wet some of her feed and held her over her food bowl – I have never seen a chicken eat so much with out breaking. I am definitely going to check in on her a couple times a day to make sure she is eating/drinking (she may also stay with me while she is healing). I wonder if there is anything else I can do for her?

It worries me that she is not putting weight on her foot or using her leg – I don't want it to atrophy. I've never worked with a chicken with a hurt foot before. Any insights about healing time, splinting, giving pain meds...would be much appreciated!




Erin & Alabaster the chicken

With most foot/leg injuries, the key is to keep them contained in a small area that is calm (so...away from active others)...a dog crate maybe until healed. This is a very active age, so it'd be easy to re-injure the foot. As for splinting - without knowing exactly where the issue is, it's hard to make suggestions. You could make a stiffish shoe out of cardboard and tape in place with medical tape??? But the most important part is calm containment/restriction of movement...

teach1rusl said:

With most foot/leg injuries, the key is to keep them contained in a small area that is calm (so...away from active others)...a dog crate maybe until healed. This is a very active age, so it'd be easy to re-injure the foot. As for splinting - without knowing exactly where the issue is, it's hard to make suggestions. You could make a stiffish shoe out of cardboard and tape in place with medical tape??? But the most important part is calm containment/restriction of movement...

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I've found a wire kennel set up in the run (I don't free range) with their own bedding, food and water works well. They are still "part of the flock" and usually remain quite content being locked up. One of mine had an injury and my girls (and boy) would stay fairly close to her cage, even dust bathed beside it. I did let her out in the evening so she could roost with the others, but every morning I would go get her off the roost (so she wasn't jumping down) and put her back in the cage. That may not be possible since she is not yours, but keeping her calm during daylight hours should help quite a bit.