- Jul 9, 2014
- 27
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About a week ago I went into the coop area to collect eggs for the day, and I discovered one of my older hens on the ground. I wondered if she was taking a dust bath so I tried to pick her up, and I put her back down to discover that she couldn't walk. She barely got around by flapping her wings, and she acted as if she couldn't see anything around her. Because the other chickens were bullying her, I decided to move her over to the brooder, where I have a broody hen and three baby chickens. The broody hen nor the babies bother her, so she's fine in there. She still drinks water, but I have to hand feed her every day.
Whenever I pick her up and press a bit on her back, she makes a painful sound, so I'm wondering if it's a spine injury that could've caused this. When I got her from the coop it looked as if she had fallen from the roost and broken her legs, but then I noticed that she couldn't see anything. Her eyes aren't injured- they look perfectly fine, but she can't see her food so she can't eat it. The only reason she knows where her water is is because she can sense it and hear it when it is poured in.
I'm wondering if there is anything I can do to help this hen? She's about five or six years old, and she's a Red Sex-link. She won't lay eggs anymore, either, but she's a pet- we won't ever use her for meat. Her name's berry, by the way.
(P.S.: The sad thing is, that last night I went down to check on her, and the three baby chickens were cuddled underneath her, and she looked so content. I know she's in pain, I just don't know what to do.)
Whenever I pick her up and press a bit on her back, she makes a painful sound, so I'm wondering if it's a spine injury that could've caused this. When I got her from the coop it looked as if she had fallen from the roost and broken her legs, but then I noticed that she couldn't see anything. Her eyes aren't injured- they look perfectly fine, but she can't see her food so she can't eat it. The only reason she knows where her water is is because she can sense it and hear it when it is poured in.
I'm wondering if there is anything I can do to help this hen? She's about five or six years old, and she's a Red Sex-link. She won't lay eggs anymore, either, but she's a pet- we won't ever use her for meat. Her name's berry, by the way.
(P.S.: The sad thing is, that last night I went down to check on her, and the three baby chickens were cuddled underneath her, and she looked so content. I know she's in pain, I just don't know what to do.)
