Little Miss Hop-a-long

[CWDancer]

Hi all,
I have a chicken who has injured herself some how. I don't know if she sprained her leg or what. She is now hopping on one foot. I have isolated her from the rest of the flock because the other birds were picking on her. Unfortunately I have to put her in with the others at night, but she is pretty good about staying in the nest box at night. In the morning I move her over to another pen so she can eat, drink and hopefully recuperate.
She is looking better physically now that she is eating and drinking, but still hopping on the one foot. She swings her other foot as she hopes along, but barely touches the ground with it. Today will be day 4 of her isolation from the others. They can she her and she can see them, but they can't get at her. They seem to leave her alone at night. When I go out to open the doors up and move her, she's sitting outside her box on the roost, and the others are standing by the door waiting for me to let them out. She now lets me pick her up to move her without trying to run away in fear of being hurt.
My question is how long does an injury usually take to heal?

 

[staceyj]

I’d wash her feet well in a bucket of warm soapy water with a sponge or washcloth then give her a good examination from her hips down, gently flexing each joint and comparing that range of motion to the good leg.
Are you seeing anything obvious?
...such as swelling (anywhere on the foot or ankle), broken toe, something sharp imbedded ?
Check the bottom for a bumble too.
A picture of how she’s holding it might help.

 

[sweet6chicks]

I had a hen who was limping and did as suggested above. I washed and could see no issue with the foot. I suspected she jumped off of something and landed wrong. I kept her separate for about 4-5 days, then let her with the others. She has gotten better over 2 weeks is my guess and now uses the foot with only a slight limp, but the others don't really bother her. I saw the rooster mount her yesterday and afterwards she was limping a little again.

 

[CWDancer]

I couldn't feel anything out of joint when I initially looked, but I might have missed something. I will check her again tonight than wash the foot tomorrow and check if there is something embedded in her foot, when I have more time to do so.
Thank you for the responses!!

 

[CWDancer]

Last night when I put her back in the other pen I checked her leg again, no swelling that I could see in the leg or the foot. I massaged her foot and leg and gently pulled her leg in several placed. I heard little clicks like joints popping, so I'm hoping she will be walking on that foot soon. I'm waiting for it to warm up a bit to soak her foot in warm soapy water and check for anything I might have missed last night. I need a strong pair of glasses for that, lol! This morning she's still hopping on the one foot, but when I put in back in with the others last night I found she had laid an egg for the first time in quite a while. A good sign that moving her is helping her to heal and that I've reduced the stress she had been under from being picked on.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

If she sprained or dislocated the leg, it can take a "while" to get better. There is no real timeline for injuries.

It's good that you separated her so she can rest and not be picked on. If you haven't done so, add some poultry vitamins to her water for a couple of days.
Since the others picked on her while she was with them, I would not put her back during the day until she is completely healed and can defend herself or at least get out of the way.

 

[CWDancer]

Thank you, I only put her back at night and she stays in a laying box during the night. I will try some vitamins too.

 

[CWDancer]

Update, she is using her foot and leg more each day, but still showing it favoritism. I had washed and massaged her foot and leg on May 4th. Couldn't find anything, but she rolled her eyes back like she was in ecstasy, lol!