A sore and sorry Chook...

[KrissyAnn]

Hi,

I have a hen that I brought home from work with what seems to be a broken leg. I work at an aged care facility that has hens for the residents. One of the residents who collects the eggs and cares for the hens alerted me to what had happened. I went and had a look and I spoke to a couple of people I work with and they said that she would have to be put down. I live on a property in the country outside of the city I work in, and my partner and father-in-law, being men of the land, I offered to take her home with me so they could put her down as humanely as possible.

Now, being a chook and animal lover in general, I thought what if we give her a chance and see if she improves?..

So we set up a pen for her and it is day three and she is still very alert, even laying eggs still. She must move around the pen as when I check on her she has changed spots, and if I lean into the pen to get her fresh water and grain she gets up and hops away from me.

I don't really know if this is the right thing to do? I'm not sure whether she is suffering by keeping her like this or if there is anything I should be doing to improve her chances of recovering? She is otherwise quite alert as I said, and functioning as normally as my other hens, despite her injury.

It would be such a shame to have to put her down. Any advise would be very much appreciated

.

Kristie.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...l-hanging-upside-down-think-her-leg-is-broken
You may find this thread helpful.

I'm sorry I don't know how to help.

 

[Sandstorm495]

Hi kristie, you are dealing with a disabled hen, which, in many cases, can be saved. With my disabled hen who had a broken leg, she couldn't walk and wasn't eating and drinking that much. I just sat her in a soft padded pram and she was quite content to sit there while she recovered. Not long after she would be able to walk around the yard. She still limps a little today, but she is just as fast as the other hens, and loves her food. I can't hope to see a full recovery in her, but I have seen major improvement in the past couple of days, which for some reason, never showed up until now. She's a great girl. That was just from my experience. I am sure your hen can be helped and won't need to be put down.

 

[KrissyAnn]

Hi,

Sorry I hadn't got back to your replies to my post till now. Thanks a bunch for the advice. I'd named her Freda, and she was doing really well, starting to bear weight on her injured leg. Yesterday one of the dogs on our property was chasing my hens that were free-ranging, and it wasn't until I had put my 4 hens and 1 roo back in their coop that I realized Freda was not in her pen. At first I couldn't understand what had happened, then I took another look and the dog had pushed a hole in the mesh and she must have escaped and took off. We looked and looked for her and we couldn't find her anywhere. There weren't any feathers laying about like the dog had got a hold of her, but yeah, she's gone

.

There are still a couple of her eggs in the pen too. That pulls at my heartstrings, lame as it may sound. She was doing so well, too

.

 

[Beulah89]

Maybe she'll come back to her nest at night?

 

[KrissyAnn]

I wish she would. It happened about 5pm yesterday (I'm in Australia), and this is the second night she is gone. There are lots of places around she could have tucked herself away in. There are also a lot of foxes around here too. I hope she might turn up eventually.