Broken leg in 9 week old?

[gapeach717]

My 9 week old Birchen cochin accidentally got left out of the coop last night in the run. I was in bed with a pounding headache and my husband went out to close the door as we always do after 10pm. This morning I went out to let them out and princess Laya was sitting still in the center of the run. I gasped and went in the run to her. She was shivering and cold as it was of course almost record lows last night. I brought her in the house and she seemed like she was having trouble walking. My shaven thought she was weirded out by the carpet pattern under her feet but I felt something else was going on.

I held her on the couch til she warms up and I give her mealworms from my hand and she eats them fine. But when I set her down she would almost instantly freeze up and start to fall over.

I held her for about an hour, them took her back to the coop where the heat lamp was on still and got her comfortable. I had to leave but when we got back I went out to check her and she was back in the run, but laying on her side and unable to get back up without falling over.

I have examined her legs, her belly, her wings, and other than one leg that seems slightly more floppy than the other and her inability to hold weight on it, I cannot see anything wrong.

She is now in a small box next to my bed. She eats and drinks and sleeps, but nothing else. She can't walk at all. It's like she flops her one leg way out in front of her and then just flops over bc she can't take a step.

I am very worried about her.

Any thoughts on what I can look for or test for to see what may be going on?

She is 9 weeks old and otherwise super healthy and happy. I am just a mess!

Thank you in advance!!

 

[gapeach717]

Omg not shaven thought, my HUSBAND thought....

 

[Fishwife]

I'm going with something wrong with her leg(s). Try not to wiggle it around; if it is broken, that could lessen chances of recovery.

One of my chicken books showed an illustration with a hen in a box.. like sitting on top of a box with slots cut out for the legs to go through and dangle inside the box. Maybe someone else has a better solution for this..

so the weight is off the legs entirely.. obviously you would have to hand feed the bird until it recovered or you took to vet, or whatever you decide to do.

I'd stop trying to get her to stand up. If it is broken, you may want to go to your vet? I dunno if I would splint a chicken's leg.. I'm not sure where the bones are or how to set it, etc. Just wrapping it up may work, but it could also knit the bones incorrectly, if that makes sense..

I know you are frustrated and worried.. I'm sorry..

 

[gapeach717]

She is laying down nestled down in the egg laying position (for mental visual) and sleeping. She wakes and eats and drinks (I have the food and water within neck reach) and that's all. She is on a bunch of fresh pine chips for softness and cushion, being a Cochin she has lots of feather cushion already too. Thanks for the advise.

 

[gapeach717]

I was really hoping to have gotten more help on this. Especially since this really is a life or death situation for her.

I am afraid now it is not a broken leg, I think maybe her pelvis is broken? I have NO idea how this happened, but she has been in a box for days now and seems to only be getting worse. She eats and drinks and poops (and in those cochin feathers its a mess to keep up with) but for example this morning both legs looks like she was doing a split in the box and God only knows how many hours she was in the position overnight. I tried to straighten her back up and move her again closer to the food and water but she protested and peeped and fell over. Its like she cannot sit up without her legs doing the splits and I dont want her to suffer for nothing. I dont know what to do.

Please someone help!

 

[mixitup]

I'm sorry about your hen. I have no advice, but I think I remember a similar thread? I'll look around for it.

I can't find the specific post. I 'm not sure if it was under predator attacks/emergencies, or somewhere else. I think the main thing in all the broken/injured leg threads was to keep them calm for a few days-something like 4-5 at least and see how it goes from there. There was also a pic of one hen in a sling (think that one also had a broken pelvis) to keep the weight off the lower body. Not sure of the outcome-Good Luck!

 

[Red Barn Farms]

I'm so sorry to hear this. I can't offer advice on what may have happened to her. Is taking her to a vet an option? If not, does she seem to be in pain? Your statement

tried to straighten her back up and move her again closer to the food and water but she protested and peeped and fell over.


makes me think she is in pain. If she has been this way for a few days now with no improvement I can't offer many options. No one likes to hear this but the only real option might be to cull her or take her to a vet.

Again, so sorry this has happened.

 

[gapeach717]

Thank you. I will try to get video of her so you can see? Maybe that will help. I have no idea what else it could be. I know she is in pain when handled, but otherwise is quiet. I am so sad for her.

 

[KrisH]

I am so sorry to hear your hen seems hurt. I can only tell you a story that we had. We had all the hens out and when it was time to bring them in, we noticed one wouldnt get up. Sure enough, she couldnt stand on her leg.

So we seperated her and put her in a stall with food and water within reach, just like you are doing. She hardly moved for at least a week. The second week we saw he move from one place to another, with an obvious limp. The third week she was moving more still with a limp. I believe it was a good 6 weeks before we put her back with the flock. No doubt we guessed a broken something and it took a long time, but she is back out and doing well. We can still see a very slight limp, but she is fine.

So, keep doing what you have, food and water within reach, clean the shavings as needed. She will move when she can, dont push it but give her a chance. We did carry ours outside to munch on grass, on and off, with us right with her, then we carried her back into the safe place.

I dont know if it was the right thing to do, but we were really thinking we would have to cull her, but we could see ever so slightly improvement. The first 2 weeks were the hardest.

Hope this gives you some thoughts. Maybe others will have more ideas.

Keep us posted, but as long as she is eating and drinking, give her lots of time.

 

[seminolewind]

She may have gotten left outside because she couldn't get to the coop due to her legs.
If they are on medicated chick feed, I would stop that and try "B" family vitamins. I would watch for any other chick to do the same. If any of your chickens/chicks had contact with other chickens except for hatchery, Marek's would be a possibility, but I think you would see others act that way as well. It could possibly be mold, poison or something that she has gotten in to.