2 year old hen with injured foot- Feeling Helpless!

[pollipayne]

Hello, I am new to keeping chickens and yesterday experienced my first emergency... One of our more excitable dogs got outside while the chickens were out of their coop, and decided to chase after Parmesana, the pack leader of the three 2-3 year old laying hens that I have (I have no idea what breed they are). She was only briefly pinned down by the dog before she made a fluttered escape, but was immediately favoring one leg and clearly distressed. My initial observation was that she must have a broken toe, it seemed that her right toe from the middle was at an odd angle, and she refused to put any weight on it at all. After having a serious panic attack, I called my feed store for some advice, I didn't know what else to do! They referred me back to my Storeys Guide (duh, Polli, should have thought of that) and I formulated a plan of action based on that information, and browsing through some older broken toe threads here. SO, yesterday I soaked her foot in a warm epsom salt bath for a while, and gave it a light coat of heavily diluted tea tree oil. I felt really carefully all along the bones of her foot, but couldn't find any major breaks or visible abrasions. I made her a separate recovery pen from the coop so that she wouldn't get picked on by the other hens, but they all seem to be pretty soundly ignoring her as of today. I also didn't want her trying to walk up the steps to the nesting boxes, so I figured the separate pen is the better way to go. Today, I let her out of her little recovery unit as soon as she woke up, she is looking normal and not terribly distressed, her poop is runnier than usual, but not outside the normal range as far as I can tell, She scarfed up some meal worms and picked at her normal food, and is drinking lots of water, but she will not put any weight on her foot. She flexes the toes every once in a while, and while she is standing in her flamingo pose, the whole injured foot vibrates and shakes...not sure what that is a sign of. I want to be sure I am doing everything that I can to make sure she has a shot at not having a permanent limp, but I am not sure where to go from here. Have I done everything that I can or is there something else you guys might suggest I do?

Parmesana in her new flamingo pose, shaky foot and all.


Thank you so much for your time and attention folks, I am feeling like a really lackluster chicken keeper today and I appreciate any advice!!

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. She could have broken her foot if you notice a good deal of swelling and bruising which can be green, but she probably sprained it or the leg. If she is not running around like a crazy girl, it may heal without penning, or you could cage her for a week or so. Foot an leg sprains can take a few weeks to heal, and it takes 2-4 weeks for a break to heal.

 

[Bocktobery 10]

.........but she will not put any weight on her foot. She flexes the toes every once in a while, and while she is standing in her flamingo pose, the whole injured foot vibrates and shakes...

Cute hen! I hope she does make a full recovery...

The part I quoted from you OP is what makes me curious the most... You said that it vibrates and shakes... I find that odd, and because its odd this symptom could be an indicator of what has gone wrong.

When I think of shaky limbs, I think of when I'm so fatigued at holding something heavy- my arms start to actually shake- like what you would see with weightlifters just before they drop the dumbells. I think if your hen's foot was just broken, that you would not see the shaking and vibrating.

<Side track thought: Is it possible the shaking and vibrating of the hurt foot was only right after the dog pinned her down? If so, then ignore everything I'm saying here >

If its been hours and the hen is calm now but she is still having a shaky foot, then I would think something got way pulled out of place, like nerve damage or something being out of whack that it fatigues her so much just to hold her foot up. In effect, it sounds like her nervous system here in that area has been damaged or affected. ? (my guess) For example.. I have a rooster that has bumblefoot in both feet now, and he holds his feet up like a flamingo from time to time, but it never shakes or vibrates when he does so. The dog that got to your hen may have pulled something out of whack or severed/hurt a nerve- perhaps maybe just a pulled muscle too. Maybe if you can feel around at the socket of the leg- Does your hen react to putting pressure on any area around the socket?

Just trying to help by telling you what I'd look for if it were my hen, I'm not sure it would help or not. Best wishes to you.

 

[pollipayne]

It has been 24 hours since the incident and the foot is still trembling. I have felt all along the foot and leg for signs of discomfort, and she seems most apprehensive for me to touch the top of her foot, but the leg, joints, and toes themselves seem ok, she just holds them up in that awkward looking pose, and the leg/foot trembles intermittently. There are no bruises or cuts that I can see, but there is definitely some swelling in that foot. She will put weight on it when she starts to lose her balance (which is terrible to watch) but she picks the foot right back up after, as if it was clearly painful to catch herself that way.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would cage her inside the run or coop with her buddies, since it obviously hurts and she needs limited activity. Give her 1/2 a low dose baby aspirin twice a day for a day or so for the pain and inflammation, but then stop it. The theory is that if it hurts, she will stay off it and rest it. I'll bet she may have broken it. Do you see any blue or green bruising. A B complex tablet dissolved in water each day may help.

 

[Bocktobery 10]

Would a chicken sling be best for this situation?

 

[Bocktobery 10]

Eggcessive has good advice about the aspirin. I just wanted to second that.

 

[pollipayne]

Here are some closeups of her foot, I dont see any bruising or discoloring, but I am also not really sure what to watch out for...