8-week chick is limping

[AuburnChickenNewbies]

Should I be concerned? She's been limping for the last three days or so. She's eating and drinking okay, but lays down for most of the day. I don't see any signs of blood anywhere and it doesn't appear to be broken. She does put weight on it, but is definitely careful. I've felt all up and down the leg, looked at the toes and just don't see anything wrong.

I did isolate her for a day, but she was so disconsolate and her chicken buddy (we have two of each breed) sat outside her pen and cried too. So I put her back in the pen with the rest of the group and the two of them are together almost full time. It's like the healthy one is protecting the lame one right now.

Do chickens sprain their legs/knees/toes whatever? Is there something we should be doing, or should we just let nature take its course and see if it heals?

 

[Judy]

Yes, they can get sprains and strains. I had one limp for a month after a predator attack, with no visible injury. She's fine now.

You should probably check for bumblefoot. It's a staph infection, usually of the sole of the foot, usually caused by a puncture injury or small foreign body. If you see a black scab looking thing on the bottom of a foot, sometimes with surrounding swelling, that's it. You will have to dig the "core" of the infection out. A quick search on here will give the info you need.

 

[chickensioux]

Quote:
x2 Sprains, muscle pulls, etc. can take quite a long time to heal. As long as it is bearing weight on that leg, I would just keep a close eye on it to make sure it doesn't worsen. Good luck.

 

[AuburnChickenNewbies]

Update:

She seems to be doing much much better all by herself. I tried to isolate her from the rest of the flock, but she threw such a fit, flitting into the sides of the pen and banging around, that I finally let her out with the others.

I did look for bumblefoot and checked her out the best that I could. Everything always seemed just fine. After a week, she's not limping much at all.

The other EE that we have is very protective of her, laying beside her when she's down and positioning herself between the injured one and the others. Interesting to watch.