Chicasaurus
In the Brooder
Hello, and thanks in advance for any insight anyone might have. We have scoured the forum but have not seen this exact issue. Five days ago our 11-week old Polish suddenly started limping. It started suddenly, no gradual change. She has been doing fine, growing with the rest of the flock and not being picked on. At first we just kept an eye on her as she continued to join the rest of the flock of 25 out in the run, and was eating and drinking normally but was laying down more than normal while picking through the grass. Would get up and limp while walking. We washed her with warm water, and soaked her legs in epsom salt water, she seems to enjoy that. We did not see any cuts, punctures, swelling, or breaks. The next day her limping was much worse, so we brought her inside for the night to keep her still and not try to jump onto the roosts. Fed her a little B12 and about 20mg aspirin. Next day we did the epsom salt bath again, and made a 8 sq. ft. fenced off area for her inside the main coop so she could still see and be seen by her sisters without being able to jump and run around with them, and kept an eye on her there but there has been no improvement. So last night we brought her inside again since she was still trying to move around and getting riled up by seeing the other chickens. When washing and soaking her legs today we found a hard white lump under the skin just above the right ankle. I do not think that was present when we first cleaned and inspected her, or if so then small enough to not be noticed. She is comfortable kneeling down by herself, but is in obvious pain if she tries to stand up on it now. She has no problem allowing me to wash the leg and handle it, but becomes distressed if I try to flex the joint at all, though she can bend it herself if not putting weight on it. She is still eating and drinking. Feed is starter / grower and has not changed in a while. Poop seems normal. None of the other 25 chickens are having any problems. The run is back-yard grass. The coop is 2-3" sand with wood chips tossed on top, about 100 sq. ft with 26 11-week old birds... The sand depth varies as they tend to spread it around into thicker / thinner areas. The roosts are all 2X4, about 20-24" above the sand, with a little side-ladder type arrangement, and had been that way for some time with no issues. We suspect she might have had an awkward landing from a 2' high roosting bar onto the floor that day but we did not see it happen. They have all been just hopping down while flapping their wings just fine. That day I found a bare spot of concrete near the chicken door that leads out to the run, so she may have landed on that instead of the sandy area. Questions are, looking at the picture, does this look like a broken bone? It feels hard under the skin, and doesn't seem to move if I hold it while wiggling her feet. We don't have a lot of experience. My family used to keep around 20 chickens but never had an injury like this one.
