Limping Chicken

Hello! I'll start with a brief introduction of myself and my chickens since I'm new here!

I'm new to chicken owning. I'm a vet tech at an animal shelter and I adopted my family's first chicken several months ago. Her name is Marge, and she ended up at my shelter after animal control seized her from her previous owner for animal abuse and improper care. She came to us with an upper respiratory infection, and dirty vents.

Last week we adopted our second chicken from my shelter when she came in as a stray, found wondering around a shoe store in town (haha! We're still accepting suggestions for names for this unique lady).

When we introduced the two, they did have a minor scrap. New Girl jumped on Marge's back and started biting Marge's comb. At which point Marge (nearly twice New Girl's size), flipped her over and reciprocated the violence.
We split it up easily with a loud noise, and they since have been getting along fine.

However, Marge is now limping. I don't know if it's related to the incident with New Girl. She's been noticeably limping for about 3 or 4 days now.

We checked thoroughly for bumblefoot and found no indications of that--no swelling, wounds, abscesses, etc. Her feet seem normal.

She has laid two eggs since she starting limping, so I don't think she's egg bound.

I'm wondering if maybe she has mites in her legs? I've tried to do a little research on this, but am undecided on whether or not her leg scales look problematic.
Like I said, she was seized by animal control because of improper care and animal abuse, so we don't really know her history except that it was bad. So I'm hoping you guys have opinions based on the photos as far as if mites might be an issue, or maybe were a past issue? Whether or not they're causing limping, if she has them I obviously want to fix that.






And upon our thorough leg inspections, I noticed some kind of pink spots on her legs. I'm not sure that these are new, as I've never examined her legs so thoroughly. The seemed like they might be a little bit of bruising but I've read that chicken bruises are black. I'm not even sure that these pinkish areas are abnormal, but you know how it is to over examine things when something is going wrong haha







It's her right leg that she appears to be favoring, although when I was taking photos it looked like her left leg is bigger than her right.

She's never been one to roost up on a bar. She always stays on the ground. She doesn't fly or jump or any of that (New Girl is always jumping up and down on things). She is free range, and does run, especially for snacks.
We've kept her in her coop/exercise pen area since the limping started to restrict activity.

Please help! If you need more information please just let me know!! I feel like I've written a novel already, but am happy to over-share some more if necessary

Thanks!!

Hi Welcome To BYC

Hopefully it's sprain since she was in a scrap with New Girl. Offer her some poultry vitamins that contain Vitamin B2 and some extra protein like egg or tuna.

Sprains can take a while to heal, so limiting her mobility is best.

It looks like she has white legs, is she a Buff Orpington? The pink spots are most likely hormone related, indicating that she is in lay. This can be more easily seen in white or light colored legs than yellow or black legs.

The scales look pretty good to me. If you feel like she needs treatment or you're concerned, you can clean the legs in warm soapy water, gently scrub to clean them, then apply some Vaseline, Coconut Oil or A+D ointment.

In the future you may want to consider a "see-but-don't-touch" method of integration after your quarantine period. While not perfect - there will still be some squabbles and pecking while establishing the pecking order - an introduction "phase" can help things go smoother and hopefully avoid injury.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/introducing-a-single-hen-to-an-existing-flock
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2011/06/integrating-new-flock-members-playpen.html

Thank you so much for your response, and so much helpful information! In hindsight it was foolish of us to just let them loose together. Those links were very helpful and we will definitely use that technique in the future.

I'm not really sure if she's a Buff Orpington. She looks similar to those. She's not dark like a Rhode Island Red but we have had people say they think she is. She does have light legs.


And we have NO idea what kind New Girl is haha. Again, we are new to chickens.


Thank you so much for your help. We will add more protein and vitamins, and keep her on cage rest for now

Thank you thank you!

reagansymone said:

Thank you so much for your response, and so much helpful information! In hindsight it was foolish of us to just let them loose together. Those links were very helpful and we will definitely use that technique in the future.

I'm not really sure if she's a Buff Orpington. She looks similar to those. She's not dark like a Rhode Island Red but we have had people say they think she is. She does have light legs.


And we have NO idea what kind New Girl is haha. Again, we are new to chickens.


Thank you so much for your help. We will add more protein and vitamins, and keep her on cage rest for now

Thank you thank you!

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LOL, I'm not a breed expert that's for sure - I saw white legs and thought BO. She may be a barnyard mix, but who cares, she's looks adorable. The other one, I don't know either if I HAD to guess I'd say Silver Penciled Plymouth Rock, but I'm not sure, she's a bit more upright and not quite as full as a Rock, so she may be Silver Penciled _________(insert breed) She is very nice as well.

If you really want to know, there are some great people on the "what breeds" forum that know their birds, you could post your photos there, I'm sure someone would be able to help you figure it out. https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/15/what-breed-or-gender-is-this

I hope it's just a sprain and with limited activity she heals quickly. Chickens can get into scuffles now and again, they can also injure themselves quite easily - I have one that sprained her foot jumping from a roost ( large girl she now roosts much lower) and another dislocated and possibly broke her toe when she went to step up on a board (saw this one happen - one toe hung, I saw it go backwards and there you have it - injury).

Keep us posted on her progress.

Just checking in! Marge and New Girl (officially deemed "Betty") are getting along great. They're now free-ranging together during the day and are always together! I suppose this is normal, but since it's my first addition, I find their friendship to be adorable. Marge still has a slight limp but is doing great.

Thanks for your help!

Thanks for the update!

I'm so glad Marge and Betty are doing great. Yes, they do seem to form friendships are adorable - I think you have found the beauty of "Chicken TV". I love to watch my flock and see how they interact with one another.

I hope all continues to do well for you and the girls