Hello everyone... Yesterday morning when I let the chickens out I noticed that one of my three roosters was limping. I couldn't catch him (they freerange) so it had to wait until last night. When I got to the coop, he wasn't on the roost, but on the edge of the nest boxes (close to the ground), I assume because he couldn't jump. So I looked it over and can't find any obvious damage to the foot, but the ankle is swollen, and he limps really bad. I put him in a cage (inside the coop), to stop him from chasing the hens, and hurting his foot. He has done the limping thing before, but his foot has NEVER been swollen and it always resolves within 24 hours. My answers to the questions below are in red.
1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)? He is a Buff Orpington, somewhere from 1-2 years old (I bought him fully grown this spring). I do not know what he weighs, but he is bigger than my other 2 BO roos. I can find out weight if you need it.
2) What is the behavior, exactly? He limps, and tries to lay down whenever possible. If he isn't getting away from the other roosters, he is laying down.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? Since yesterday morning.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? No.
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma? No bleeding, and I don't believe there to be any broken bones.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. The only thing that I can think of is jumping off of the 5 foot (ish) high roost. Any other thoughts are welcome. (we are planning on putting in a lower roost, just haven't gotten to it)
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. He eats Blue Seal Layer Pellets (along with the rest of the flock), bugs, and any other forage that is in the yard. Drinks water, out of the chicken waterers and horse buckets. Since last night he has had no bugs or forage because he has been in a cage.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. Normal as far as I can tell.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? Nothing. I checked his ankle for broken bones, but it is so swollen that I can't tell. So I just separated him.
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? If it is anything serious, we will probably just eat him. I need to switch out some roosters for new genes anyway. If it is simple, I will treat him.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help. I have no picture right now, but I will get one.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use. They live in an 8X12 shed (with no chicken doors, just the normal swinging people doors) with wood shavings on the floor.
If you need me to answer anything else, I would be more than happy to! Just let me know! And I will get a pic as soon as possible!
Edited to add a few pics, sorry that they aren't that great. And, as a side note, the swelling has gone down DRAMATICALLY since this morning, but he is still limping really bad. Sorry that his feet are super dirty! It is muddy in some of the places that they forage.
Here he is is his cage. You can see how big he is.
Top view of his feet. (Left one is the one that is hurt) See the swollen sides?
And a view from the bottom of his feet. Again, sorry that he is dirty. It is his left foot, so in this pic it it the one on our right that is swollen.
Thanks in advance for any and all help!
1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)? He is a Buff Orpington, somewhere from 1-2 years old (I bought him fully grown this spring). I do not know what he weighs, but he is bigger than my other 2 BO roos. I can find out weight if you need it.
2) What is the behavior, exactly? He limps, and tries to lay down whenever possible. If he isn't getting away from the other roosters, he is laying down.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? Since yesterday morning.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? No.
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma? No bleeding, and I don't believe there to be any broken bones.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. The only thing that I can think of is jumping off of the 5 foot (ish) high roost. Any other thoughts are welcome. (we are planning on putting in a lower roost, just haven't gotten to it)
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. He eats Blue Seal Layer Pellets (along with the rest of the flock), bugs, and any other forage that is in the yard. Drinks water, out of the chicken waterers and horse buckets. Since last night he has had no bugs or forage because he has been in a cage.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. Normal as far as I can tell.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? Nothing. I checked his ankle for broken bones, but it is so swollen that I can't tell. So I just separated him.
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? If it is anything serious, we will probably just eat him. I need to switch out some roosters for new genes anyway. If it is simple, I will treat him.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help. I have no picture right now, but I will get one.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use. They live in an 8X12 shed (with no chicken doors, just the normal swinging people doors) with wood shavings on the floor.
If you need me to answer anything else, I would be more than happy to! Just let me know! And I will get a pic as soon as possible!
Edited to add a few pics, sorry that they aren't that great. And, as a side note, the swelling has gone down DRAMATICALLY since this morning, but he is still limping really bad. Sorry that his feet are super dirty! It is muddy in some of the places that they forage.
Here he is is his cage. You can see how big he is.
Top view of his feet. (Left one is the one that is hurt) See the swollen sides?
And a view from the bottom of his feet. Again, sorry that he is dirty. It is his left foot, so in this pic it it the one on our right that is swollen.
Thanks in advance for any and all help!
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