And another leg problem...

[LTygress]

Put down a buff polish hen with a crushed knee and thigh last week. Now there's a new one.

This one has been acting kinda lethargic for a couple of days. She barely moved when I entered the pen. I picked her up and gave her antibiotics, fed her to make sure she got her share of food, and put her back in the pen. That was yesterday.

Today, same thing. Brought her in and treated her. Took her back out and tried to release her outside of the pen to free range for a bit. She ran straight to the pen, limping and stumbling the entire way. By the time she reached the gate (roughly 50 feet) her foot was covered in blood.

The limping and stumbling resulted in a feather being torn out of her toe (she's a cochin). I scooped her back up, and brought her back in. I gave her injectable antibiotics directly into her foot. I noticed she felt the pain of the needle prick, so we still have a WORKABLE foot.

But other times she acts like she can't feel it. Most notably, she actually steps on the bad foot with her good foot, then trips over that. And she sometimes steps down on the bad foot without the toes being stretched out, so she's kinda walking on folded-under toes. She will also turn the bad foot inwards a lot.

I felt up her leg, and stretched it, and don't feel breaks. Although her hurt leg does stay relaxed a lot, she does TRY to move it, and I can feel it tense up when she is about to be set down.

So I'm thinking a sprain/twist. Does that sound about right? I put her in a sling, made out of a stretchy shirt and plastic milk crate that was originally set up for the buff polish (before I realized how bad hers was).

Or does it sound like something worse?

Also, do I need to try to wrap it? I have the self-adhesive bandaging tape that they often use on horses. I know compression is good for a mammal's sprain.

She seems fairly happy being in the sling. She's actually resting in it beside me right now- sleeping for the first time since I brought her in. I need to invest in some over-the-crate food and water dishes, but she's dealing with what she has for now. And she greedily eats and drinks, so there is no lost appetite.

 

[LTygress]

Update: she was being really finicky about the sling as my room got dark from the sun setting. But she has one good foot, so I took her out to let her "roost". She is in my desk chair on a towel, settling down right there anyway. I guess she just wanted to use her own legs to roost.

But she's going to sleep now, despite the light being on in the room. I'll probably wait until I go to bed and turn all of the lights off, and put her back in the sling anyway.

Really mulling the idea of wrapping it to see how she handles that.

 

[LTygress]

New update: It's almost definitely a sprain. She spent the night inside, so it was the first time she was warm all night. Today I woke up to find her left foot seriously swollen. She has barely moved from this one spot.

I put her on a towel instead of the sling for now, and put food and water within easy reach. She has only stood long enough to turn around. She is no longer stepping o that foot with her other one, but she is keeping all weight off on her own.

She has also stopped caring about the cats, but they don't know what to think of a chicken on a towel on my bed like that! But I'm glad to see thw swelling though, because it tells me exactly where the problem is now, and shows me that her body is attempting to do its thing to get it healed.