Creative Ideas for Helping Gimpy Chicken?

Arya28

Crowing
8 Years
Apr 9, 2017
662
566
261
Pennsylvania
Hello,

I realize this post might be a long shot.... but I still think it won't hurt to see if anyone has any ideas.

Some of you might have seen this thread I started a month ago, asking about our limping chick. Well, we concluded we think it is most likely a slipped tendon. This chick is now about 4 months old. We tried to put the tendon back in place several times when she was small, but we just couldn't get it to stay. We didn't want to put her through the trauma of going to the vet, as we didn't even know if that would help. We decided we'd just let her live (that was never a question), and try to help her when we can, for as long as we can.

So that leg you can see in the pics on that thread, she can't put any weight on it, and it seems pretty well crippled. The thing is, it's put her hip out of whack how she has to lean on her other leg. And now her toes on her good leg are curled a bit. She doesn't act like she's in any pain, and she gets around just fine to get food and water. The thing we are concerned about is this: we have other rainbows and they are VERY heavy birds. We are concerned that eventually her weight might get to be too much for her good leg.

She is the absolute sweetest bird ever, and we want to be able to help her have as good of a life as she possibly can. Again, right now, she's not in pain. If she were suffering we wouldn't allow her to suffer.

So what I am asking here, is if anyone has any creative ideas for helping her to keep weight off her leg, before it could get to be too much for her? Is there any thing we can do now to prevent her from suffering later?

I know she's a chicken, and there's only so much you can do for things like this. But we want to try and make sure that if we can help her before she gets too heavy, that we can.

Any ideas will be greatly appreciated!
 
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I don't know if this is any comfort at all but I've had a one legged roo,his hip dislocated and healed back in a position where it was useless as far as being a leg. I did take him to the vet and asked if he could live a good life like that and was told he could, his good leg would compensate for the bad one but never expected full normality. He did live, the foot reshaped like your baby and he learned to do all the things chickens do just a little bit differently. He died of old age and even fathered chicks. The very best thing you can do for that little one is just look after her, gimpy or not she'll do all the things chickens do and probably will become one of your strongest hens.:)
 
I don't know if this is any comfort at all but I've had a one legged roo,his hip dislocated and healed back in a position where it was useless as far as being a leg. I did take him to the vet and asked if he could live a good life like that and was told he could, his good leg would compensate for the bad one but never expected full normality. He did live, the foot reshaped like your baby and he learned to do all the things chickens do just a little bit differently. He died of old age and even fathered chicks. The very best thing you can do for that little one is just look after her, gimpy or not she'll do all the things chickens do and probably will become one of your strongest hens.:)

Wow that's amazing! That is definitely refreshing to hear. I'm sorry you lost him, but at least he lived a long life!

Oh, no doubt, she is a very strong bird. She's also super smart, learning to get around like she does. :)
 
Gah, don't be sorry I lost him he was ten years old almost eleven when he passed. He died while he was eating, so he went doing what he loved. Don't worry about your little girls leg holding weight, the roo was quite fat and he did great. The only modifications i made for my chunky boy was i gave him a flat roosting bar instead of round, so he didn't have to have very much done for him to function as a happy chicken. ;)
 
Gah, don't be sorry I lost him he was ten years old almost eleven when he passed. He died while he was eating, so he went doing what he loved. Don't worry about your little girls leg holding weight, the roo was quite fat and he did great. The only modifications i made for my chunky boy was i gave him a flat roosting bar instead of round, so he didn't have to have very much done for him to function as a happy chicken. ;)
Oh, that's another thing. She can't get on the roost... I think her toes on her one leg are too curled for that, and she's never tried to. I don't think she could keep her balance on one. She we gave her a little box and she sleeps on the ground.
 
Ok, when she gets bigger and gets the roosting instict turn the box over and she'll probably sleep on top of it. The roosting isn't important, if you can get her a spot where she can get up off floor level when she wants to she'll be happy.
Oh, that's another thing. She can't get on the roost... I think her toes on her one leg are too curled for that, and she's never tried to. I don't think she could keep her balance on one. She we gave her a little box and she sleeps on the ground.
 
A chicken sling or hammock might be what you are looking for. There are may variations that you can make, some much more professional looking, but this is a very simple example. If you google images of chicken slings, you should find plenty more examples.
sling 2.png
 
A chicken sling or hammock might be what you are looking for. There are may variations that you can make, some much more professional looking, but this is a very simple example. If you google images of chicken slings, you should find plenty more examples.
View attachment 1198139

Would this be something to just have her in part of the time, to help keep the excess weight off? Or would it be something to keep her in all the time?
 

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