3-month old chicken is hopping on one foot and sounds phlegmy when she breathes

[gryffenchicken]

hi all! exactly what it says on the tin. my baby Thunder is hopping around on one foot (seems pretty adept at that) and her bad foot is held close to her body, like a flamingo: she isn’t dragging it around behind her. Her foot is fully limp though, like if you were to make your hand limp and play with the fingers. Her eyes are clear, she’s not droopy, she’s fully able to keep her eyes wide open. When she breathes, it sounds a bit crackly and phlegmy. are these issues related at allv

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. Was she from a hatchery, feed store, breeder, or did you hatch her at home? Was she vaccinated for anything? Have you added any new birds recently? Can you see any green bruising, swelling, or scab/abrasion on the entire leg or foot pad? Do you have a rooster who could have hurt her? Is she getting around well enough to eat and drink normally?

 

[gryffenchicken]

Welcome to BYC. Was she from a hatchery, feed store, breeder, or did you hatch her at home? Was she vaccinated for anything? Have you added any new birds recently? Can you see any green bruising, swelling, or scab/abrasion on the entire leg or foot pad? Do you have a rooster who could have hurt her? Is she getting around well enough to eat and drink normally?

hatched at home at the very end of August, unvaccinated (no avian vet in the area that I’m aware of), i couldn’t see any bruises or anything or any sort of wound on the leg or foot, we do have a rooster but he’s only got one eye and horrid depth perception, so I’m not sure how well he’d be able to hurt her (on purpose anyway) though i do believe 2 out of the 4 that hatched are boys. these 4 are the newest additions to the flock, and Thunder’s pretty mobile it seems, she just doesn’t look like she can get up ramps into the coop very well. I’ll definitely be bringing water and feed into the run for her when I don’t carry her into the coop

 

[WoDia]

@gryffenchicken If she’s having too much difficulty getting around, consider separating her temporarily to a smaller area (perhaps with a flock mate for company) to allow her to heal in peace. To me, it sounds like an injury (sprain). Give her easy access to food/water, keep her warm and dry. The crackling may be a result of stress from the initial injury. Monitor her closely. If the crackling doesn’t clear up, you’ll need to address that as well. She’s a newer addition to the flock— if the injury wasn’t caused by a rooster, it could’ve been caused by a bullying hen. Or, she may have landed wrong flying down from the roost. I hope she gets better soon. Keep us updated.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sometimes with a leg injury the nerve can be affected, and that would cause it to be limp. Others may attack her if she is out with the others unprotected. So I would keep with in a wire dog crate with her own food and water, but keep her with the flock for companionship. A chicken sling can sometimes be of help, but some will fight to get out of it. It does help them to be sitting in front of their food in the sling for periods. Let us know how she gets along. Here is a good thread with many pictures and a video of chicken slings and chairs:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/versions-of-chick-chairs-please.1166308/

 

[gryffenchicken]

@gryffenchicken If she’s having too much difficulty getting around, consider separating her temporarily to a smaller area (perhaps with a flock mate for company) to allow her to heal in peace. To me, it sounds like an injury (sprain). Give her easy access to food/water, keep her warm and dry. The crackling may be a result of stress from the initial injury. Monitor her closely. If the crackling doesn’t clear up, you’ll need to address that as well. She’s a newer addition to the flock— if the injury wasn’t caused by a rooster, it could’ve been caused by a bullying hen. Or, she may have landed wrong flying down from the roost. I hope she gets better soon. Keep us updated.

thank you i hope she’s feeling better too! she’s definitely still energetic she’s just having issues hopping herself around- good thing her one leg is sound! i’m definitely hoping it’s just a sprain since the roosts are fairly high up and while we do have a ramp leading down from the roosts for them, most of them jump, and maybe she slid down the ramp weirdly or someone landed on her? Because of toast’s missing eye, he lands weird and sometimes crashes into birds who are already on the ground, since he can’t see them all too well

 

[WoDia]

thank you i hope she’s feeling better too! she’s definitely still energetic she’s just having issues hopping herself around- good thing her one leg is sound! i’m definitely hoping it’s just a sprain since the roosts are fairly high up and while we do have a ramp leading down from the roosts for them, most of them jump, and maybe she slid down the ramp weirdly or someone landed on her? Because of toast’s missing eye, he lands weird and sometimes crashes into birds who are already on the ground, since he can’t see them all too well

I hope Thunder is healed soon and back to being her happy chicken self. It sounds like she’s not going to let a sore leg hold her back. Just last year, my Buff Orpington rooster hopped off the roost right on to a white Easter Egger. It took her at least a week of rest to heal from the injury that big, heavy boy caused (her left leg got the worst of it). Let us know how Thunder is doing.