Broken foot ?

[3nglishteacher]

I have 2 dozen 7 week old araucanas and noticed when I let everyone out of the hen house yesterday that one was crippled...foot twisted in at ankle and basically useless--it must've happened some time back b/c that foot appears to have atrophied some, is slightly smaller than the other foot. She's stumping around just fine, doesn't seem in pain (how DO you tell, btw?) .... do I just leave her alone and send her to the stew pot first next fall?

Also, we made our perches using leftover 2x2 pickets but I noticed some blood stains on the wood -- I'm wondering if those pickets are too big for them to grip. No splintering at all, just random smeared blood.

Sorry to be so stupid -- my first foray into chickens and I appreciate any help!
Karen

 

[dlhunicorn]

did you use medicated starter? I would keep a good look out for blood in the faeces...cocci is a common ailment and often presents with bloody poos.

 

[3nglishteacher]

The first bag of feed was medicated, but plain since then. I've looked but I don't see any blood in their poop......I'll research cocci and see what else to look for. Quite an enigma!

Thanks~