limping chicken

Soak it, for starters. And he needs an antibiotic. Don't be too quick to do the surgery , as wounds in chicken feet are hard to heal. Try cephalexin.

Frankies Mom said:

First of all, I don't know whether 4 of my 12 birds are hens or roosters. They are now 10 weeks old, all muts, and I keep going back and forth. Yesterday, one chicken, who doesn't have much of a social role in the group, got up limping. His left leg seemed to be "asleep" looked like he had "pins-n-needles". I picked him/her up and examined her physically with no signs of swelling, sores, or injury of any kind. He/she ate and drank normally (maybe a little more aggressively than normal from my hand), and as the day went on, I noticed improvement. I researched about an hour and saw that "wait and watch" was the best thing to do. I checked the coop for poop anomalies and found 1 bloody stool. It was only one and it's not alarming according to a "poop chart" I used.
This particular chicken doesn't really "like" to be held, so when I tried to pick her/him up again later for a check and she/he ran away twice, I believed it to be a fluke and that maybe her leg was just "asleep"
This afternoon, I went out to let them "free range" for the afternoon (they only can range supervised), and the runt, who is by FAR the most aggressive and even fights, came out limping. His left leg was completely useless. It would barely keep him balanced and looked limp and lifeless (the leg).
I feel like I have made a huge mistake taking on these sweet babies without knowing anything about the care for them. I feel like a horrible Mommy and I just want to cry. I spend so much time reading these threads and researching and I still feel like I know nothing.
This particular baby is the meanest one of the bunch. He/she absolutely HATES to be held. I spent quite a bit of time with him a couple of weeks ago to tame his aggressive mean streak and he didn't like any of it one bit. He either calmed down, or realized he better only be ugly when no humans are around (not often). Now that I have him being sweet to the flock, this happens. Normally, he would do anything he could to get away from me. Now, he is sitting on my lap by choice and singing to me when he wants to be hand fed and syringe watered...lol.
I know wait and watch is the prognosis, but OMG, I am really afraid right now.
I will post some pics shortly!
Thanks in advance for any help and sorry for the long winded request!

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So you have two lame ones? I would try to isolate those two, you could probably put them together if they get along, but put them in a pen separate from the others. In case whatever it is is contagious. You can try the baby aspirin for starters...three times a day, crushed up in soft food.

I don't really understand what "lame" means other than "bad or no good". But the first chicken is completely fine now. No signs of ailment mentally or physically. The other is now showing signs of discomfort and panting some. I have never left the chickens alone since I got them and the closest Vet is an hour away. Should I take him? What can a vet do that I can't do? (not being sarcastic, just don't have a lot of faith in Doctors around here) How many Milligrams of Asprin per dose? The chicken is a runt (feels like he weighs maybe 3pounds) and 11 weeks old.

Well, lame means unable to walk, without limping. Try three baby aspirin per day, crushed up in a treat, like a little bread ball with a touch of peanut butter spread on it, or you can mix it with yogurt or anything soft and put it on his food. And by three per day I mean spread out throughout the day...morning, noon, evening. Or every 4 or five hours.

I'm having a smilar issue with mine, about 6-8 months old. Was totally fine then one day went out in the coop and she was limping really bad. wouldn't stand on her left foot at all, kept it curled up and used her ankle as a kind of peg leg to get around. The next day I put her in a dog crate indoors when it still hadn't improved. She's eating and drinking and poopling fine, but still not improvement in the foot 4 days later. I check it daily for broken bones, toes, bumblefoot, dislocated hip, anythign I've been able to think of. She doesn't show any signs of distress, no panting, talks to me and everything. She lets me hold her now, and before she was injured she would run. but other than that everything's normal. Any suggestions?