Buffy the vampire slayer is limping!!!!

[ChikenChik]

My Buff O is limping. It started about a week ago. She still gets around fine and doesn't seem to be getting picked on any more than usual.(She is the bottom girl in the pecking order) I don't see any sign of injury or swelling or anything although that foot MAY be slightly bigger than the other. Might just be my imagination though it's not a big difference. Please help I'm gonna have to change her name to hopalong if things don't change! She is around 7 months old. Not Laying. Not overweight, Any ideas?

 

[cowboysgirlfrnd]

I'm looking for the answer to the same question - and it's my buff Brahma who is also called Buffy Summers! Hope you get her figured out. Mine is very sorry for herself.

 

[ChikenChik]

Awwww My Buffy is just pitiful. I love her to pieces but she is just not a smart chicken and scared of everything. I hoped giving her a brave name would help but nope! She gets scared so easy! Probably how she got hurt.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

My Buff O is limping. It started about a week ago. She still gets around fine and doesn't seem to be getting picked on any more than usual.(She is the bottom girl in the pecking order) I don't see any sign of injury or swelling or anything although that foot MAY be slightly bigger than the other. Might just be my imagination though it's not a big difference. Please help I'm gonna have to change her name to hopalong if things don't change! She is around 7 months old. Not Laying. Not overweight, Any ideas?

How does her abdomen feel?
Has she ever laid any eggs?
What does her poop look like?

If you have a wire dog kennel that you can place in the run to separate her that would be good - this still allows her to be part of the flock while giving her a safe place to rest and heal if it is a sprain. Offer some poultry vitamins in her water and give her some extra protein like egg, tuna, mackerel or meat.

Sometimes internal laying/reproductive disorders can cause limping as well.

 

[ChikenChik]

I checked and she doesn't feel eggbound. She has never laid and I don't think she is going to soon. Her comb is still tiny and barely pink and she isn't very big. Honestly she may be younger than 7 months. We got her and another when they were supposedly around 5 months but she was the same size as the Leghorn we got with her and I thought she should have been bigger. I don't have an extra dog kennel I am using them for rabbits at the moment but I might have to go buy one. She actually seems better today. So maybe it's on the mend. And it really doesn't seem to be hampering her at all she still runs all over. I gave them all some leftover pork yesterday. Maybe I'll scramble up some eggs today for them. I should probably separate her for that though since she always gets the smallest portion since she is on the bottom. On the bright side my Leghorn laid her first egg today!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I checked and she doesn't feel eggbound. She has never laid and I don't think she is going to soon. Her comb is still tiny and barely pink and she isn't very big. Honestly she may be younger than 7 months. We got her and another when they were supposedly around 5 months but she was the same size as the Leghorn we got with her and I thought she should have been bigger. I don't have an extra dog kennel I am using them for rabbits at the moment but I might have to go buy one. She actually seems better today. So maybe it's on the mend. And it really doesn't seem to be hampering her at all she still runs all over. I gave them all some leftover pork yesterday. Maybe I'll scramble up some eggs today for them. I should probably separate her for that though since she always gets the smallest portion since she is on the bottom. On the bright side my Leghorn laid her first egg today!

Congratulations! Your first egg

It's most likely a sprain if she is still on the move.
If you feel like she isn't getting enough to eat, then separate her out for extras or try adding another feeding station. I only have 7 chickens, but when I feed wet mash, I have two separate areas that I put it in. This way everyone gets some. I also have one main feeder in the coop that they have access to as well, so no one goes hungry, but chickens like to eat as a group.

 

[ChikenChik]

I have seven too. She gets plenty to eat I have two feeding stations and they don't pick on her that bad. But when I give treats she runs in and grabs then goes under the coop with her bite of whatever and usually it's gone by the time she gets back out. But they don't get huge treats anyway so it's not a big deal. They always have food and no one chases her away when she goes to eat as long as they have checked it out first lol. The only real bully I have is one of the young roosters and he actually picks on the hens that are laying(Horny little thing he is....I actually figured out that Snow white(the leghorn) would be laying soon thanks to him following her around trying to jump on. She started squatting for him and I was like woo hoo!)....and he will be going in the pot soon anyway.He's getting super noisy! And driving the girls crazy!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I have seven too. She gets plenty to eat I have two feeding stations and they don't pick on her that bad. But when I give treats she runs in and grabs then goes under the coop with her bite of whatever and usually it's gone by the time she gets back out. But they don't get huge treats anyway so it's not a big deal. They always have food and no one chases her away when she goes to eat as long as they have checked it out first lol. The only real bully I have is one of the young roosters and he actually picks on the hens that are laying(Horny little thing he is....I actually figured out that Snow white(the leghorn) would be laying soon thanks to him following her around trying to jump on. She started squatting for him and I was like woo hoo!)....and he will be going in the pot soon anyway.He's getting super noisy! And driving the girls crazy!

Sounds like she is doing ok then. Just keep an eye on her. If the limping gets worse then try to separate her. Sprains can take several weeks to heal.

Keep us posted.