8 Week Old Chick with Broken Bone

[Bugerrrr]

Hi everyone, we have 9 8-week-old chicks that we raised since they were 2 days old. They were raised indoors until 3 days ago when we moved them to the outdoor coop. Among them there is a brown Leghorn. She was very active, but not very people friendly. 5 days ago when I was chasing her around, I accidently stepped on her foot and broke her bone right above her foot. I took her to the vet and he put a cast on her. She's now doing better. But it's probably going to take 3 more weeks before she can fully recover. Right now she's in confinement with a "friend". We put a "friend" there to keep her company. She is an Ameraucana of the same age (from the same flock). She is not happy to be there with the injured leghorn, but she's docile and there isn't anything she can do about it. In the meantime, the other 7 chicks are happily living in the outside coop and adapting to the new environment. My question is if the two chicks in the confinement will have problem rejoining the flock (in the outside coop which they haven't lived in) after 3 to 4 weeks. The injured Leghorn seems to be at the top of the pecking order. But the Ameraucana is more like the middle to lower level of the pack. Will either of them have a problem? Should we let the Ameraucana go back to the flock and keep the Leghorn in confinement by herself for 3 weeks?

 

[ChickNanny13]

Just a thought ... You could put the Leghorn in a big wire cage with food & water, into the coop with the rest. The Ameraucana can be with the rest of the flock. Or if it's feasible, block off a section of the coop for the Leghorn to be with the flock & recouperate. Sort of like the See but No Touch method of integration.

 

[Bugerrrr]

Thank you! We tried that 1 day after the Leghorn was injured. Seeing other chicks got her very excited. She kept on getting up and hopping around. We thought that can't be good for her recovery. But maybe we will give it another try after a few days now that she's doing better. Thank you, Chicknanny!