Can one legged chicken make it?

[Ann Wellhouse]

I have a chicken that lost the lower part of her leg. She seems to be recovering. She is just over 2 months old.

She is isolated in a small cage inside the chicken coop so the other hens roost around her.

Can a chicken live without one leg? I've seen wild birds with one leg but they are of course much smaller.

 

[Chookchicken]

I had a chick who couldn’t use one of her legs (it was to deformed) she managed to live until 3 months before she passed, so I don’t know what it’s like after that. The things she struggled with was:

1. Perching
2. Getting up to the coop (if you have a ramp this shouldn’t be a problem)
3. Getting bullied by the other chickens who felt she was to weak
4. Jumping and running away from predators
5. Keeping up with the others

This might not all effect her if she wasn’t born with anything wrong, and it might get better over time, but these were the problems I was faced with. I just had to help her with a lot of things, along with a few things that came with her being born odd. It did make her a lot more tired then all the others (again might be something to do with her being born odd). I know this probably isn’t very helpful, but this is my experience with having a chick with only one working leg

 

[checkingon]

We had a wild chicken that broke her leg when she had her babies to care for. I helped her along with food/water to give her strength. She was tough and she just kept on going but hopping on one leg did tire her out.
She turned out to be the best mom. After her babies grew, she wanted so desperately to have more and she did! Though she was a wild chicken, she came to trust me and allowed me to touch her, stroke her and carry her.
In the end, I woke up one morning to find her body a distance away from her babies. She gave her life to save her babies.

 

[Chookchicken]

We had a wild chicken that broke her leg when she had her babies to care for. I helped her along with food/water to give her strength. She was tough and she just kept on going but hopping on one leg did tire her out.
She turned out to be the best mom. After her babies grew, she wanted so desperately to have more and she did! Though she was a wild chicken, she came to trust me and allowed me to touch her, stroke her and carry her.
In the end, I woke up one morning to find her body a distance away from her babies. She gave her life to save her babies.

She sounds like a very lovely mother hen. My mother hens can barely stop themselves from leaving their chicks to go eat corn with the other chickens. I’m sorry she died, thank you for sharing her story (even if it was to help answer some of her questions, I enjoyed reading it)

 

[checkingon]

She sounds like a very lovely mother hen. My mother hens can barely stop themselves from leaving their chicks to go eat corn with the other chickens. I’m sorry she died, thank you for sharing her story (even if it was to help answer some of her questions, I enjoyed reading it)

Oops. Sorry I need to add that an animal (most likely a dog) - that’s really most likely what we have here) that took her life.
Her leg didn’t stop her from living the best she could. I will never forget her. She was the start of my interest in protecting chickens and caring for them.

 

[TundraFang]

Hi, did your chicken survive? I just amputated a chicken's leg and I'm hoping he'll still have a good quality of life.

 

[Ann Wellhouse]

Hi, did your chicken survive? I just amputated a chicken's leg and I'm hoping he'll still have a good quality of life.

Yes. She’s thriving. She’s about half the size of the other hens.

I think the best thing is that she lost the useless leg. While she still had that it dragged her down.

She sleeps under where the others roost.

At first I fed her treats separately to make sure she got some but now she hops around among the other hens.

Good luck with yours.
--
Ann ^..^

 

[TundraFang]

Yes. She’s thriving. She’s about half the size of the other hens.

I think the best thing is that she lost the useless leg. While she still had that it dragged her down.

She sleeps under where the others roost.

At first I fed her treats separately to make sure she got some but now she hops around among the other hens.

Good luck with yours.
--
Ann ^..^

Thank you! Glad to know she's thriving! I'm hoping my little dude will make a full recovery!

 

[Chookchicken]

Yes. She’s thriving. She’s about half the size of the other hens.

I think the best thing is that she lost the useless leg. While she still had that it dragged her down.

She sleeps under where the others roost.

At first I fed her treats separately to make sure she got some but now she hops around among the other hens.

Good luck with yours.
--
Ann ^..^

That is some very happy news