Displayed leg??

[MrsBrooke]

Ok thanks!

She did flinch a bit when I squeezed her ankle area.

I'll look into the sling.

Also, is it ok that she is still standing? I can't get her to lay down.

Glad we may be getting to the cause. Perhaps it's an injury. Sometimes, jumping off things can twist ankles, hocks and hips.

If she feels like standing, it may not be TOO bad of an injury. That's the beauty of the chicken sling. You can keep her in the upright position without weight on her foot allowing it to heal.

You can sprinkle turmeric over her food for nature's best anti-inflammatory. Don't worry about dosage, you can't give her too much. If you offer boiled eggs mixed with a little turmeric, she should gobble that up. Just know that if you take away the inflammation, and her ankle starts to feel better, she may walk around on it and aggravate it further... Keep her in the sling for a few days to let her repair.

Keep us updated!

MrsB

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Glad we may be getting to the cause. Perhaps it's an injury. Sometimes, jumping off things can twist ankles, hocks and hips.

If she feels like standing, it may not be TOO bad of an injury. That's the beauty of the chicken sling. You can keep her in the upright position without weight on her foot allowing it to heal.

You can sprinkle turmeric over her food for nature's best anti-inflammatory. Don't worry about dosage, you can't give her too much. If you offer boiled eggs mixed with a little turmeric, she should gobble that up. Just know that if you take away the inflammation, and her ankle starts to feel better, she may walk around on it and aggravate it further... Keep her in the sling for a few days to let her repair.

Keep us updated!

MrsB

Yes I'm pretty positive she has injured herself since she was just fine last night. I found her on the floor right where she otherwise would have landed if she had jumped from the roost.

I gave her some save-a-chick probiotics in her oatmeal just now. She ate it that right up!

Thanks so much for your help! Do you think I should keep her inside tonight?

 

[mymilliefleur]

Glad we may be getting to the cause. Perhaps it's an injury. Sometimes, jumping off things can twist ankles, hocks and hips.

If she feels like standing, it may not be TOO bad of an injury. That's the beauty of the chicken sling. You can keep her in the upright position without weight on her foot allowing it to heal.

You can sprinkle turmeric over her food for nature's best anti-inflammatory. Don't worry about dosage, you can't give her too much. If you offer boiled eggs mixed with a little turmeric, she should gobble that up. Just know that if you take away the inflammation, and her ankle starts to feel better, she may walk around on it and aggravate it further... Keep her in the sling for a few days to let her repair.

Keep us updated!

MrsB

I second the tumeric. It will certainly help her. I had a young rooster once that I found with his leg twisted behind him. I never could figure out how it happened as there was nothing he could have gotten caught in.

 

[TwoCrows]

Feel each leg up to the hip joint. Is there any heat in the joints anywhere up the leg? Move them all around while holding her and see if she flinches when you move everything.

I don't like the purple comb thing. This can be heart related. Put your ear over her back where the neck meets the back and see if you hear anything. The lungs are beneath this area and the heart is right beneath the lungs. Also, listen at her beak. Any noises in her breathing?

Then feel between her legs on the outside, a bit back toward the abdomen and then forward toward the breast. Use a healthy bird for comparison, but there shouldn't be any swelling. The liver is down there and if it is enlarged, it can take up space in the breathing cavity for the heart and lungs to expand, hence causing circulation problems and the purple comb.

I would also check her for egg binding. If there is a stuck egg, it could be pinching a nerve or something. You mentioned the watery white droppings. A stuck egg will stop her from pooping much. Put on a disposable latex glove if you have one, lube up the index finger with KY-jelly or Vaseline and gently put your finger into her vent straight back. Not down but straight back. If she has a stuck egg, you should feel it within the first inch of so. If you go back 2 inches and feel an egg way back, it is in the uterus and not considered stuck. If you feel nothing, you are most likely feeling into her intestines.

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Feel each leg up to the hip joint. Is there any heat in the joints anywhere up the leg? Move them all around while holding her and see if she flinches when you move everything.

I don't like the purple comb thing. This can be heart related. Put your ear over her back where the neck meets the back and see if you hear anything. The lungs are beneath this area and the heart is right beneath the lungs. Also, listen at her beak. Any noises in her breathing?

Then feel between her legs on the outside, a bit back toward the abdomen and then forward toward the breast. Use a healthy bird for comparison, but there shouldn't be any swelling. The liver is down there and if it is enlarged, it can take up space in the breathing cavity for the heart and lungs to expand, hence causing circulation problems and the purple comb.

I would also check her for egg binding. If there is a stuck egg, it could be pinching a nerve or something. You mentioned the watery white droppings. A stuck egg will stop her from pooping much. Put on a disposable latex glove if you have one, lube up the index finger with KY-jelly or Vaseline and gently put your finger into her vent straight back. Not down but straight back. If she has a stuck egg, you should feel it within the first inch of so. If you go back 2 inches and feel an egg way back, it is in the uterus and not considered stuck. If you feel nothing, you are most likely feeling into her intestines.

Thanks so much!

I felt her legs. Nothing felt abnormal but she did flinch. I listened to her heart and her breathing. Nothing seemed different or off chart. Her space between her legs felt the same as Daisy's and Gracie's. I haven't done the egg binding check yet. I'm a bit nervous to do it! LOL

I'm really starting to think that she just fell off the high roost and landed with her legs sprawled out and couldn't get up. She is eating and drinking. Her comb is still a bit purple but is standing up again and not droopy.

 

[TwoCrows]

That is why I wanted you to check if she flinched because this would probably indicate whether she did in fact injure herself. You have said in the past she has had leg issues from some frost bite. However she could have just slipped and fell off from a shove from another bird or something not related to previous leg issues.

I know the egg exam is scary at first, LOL, but after you have tried this, it is very easy to do next time and this lets us know she is definitely not egg bound. Egg binding is too serious to mess around with. Take your time. You can do it!!!

I think if she passes the egg binding test and is not egg bound, this is most likely an injury from a fall. So I would confine her in a tiny cage for a few days or even a week, depending on how she improves. Keep the food and water right there and limit her walking. If she sprained something, this could take a week or more to heal. Sprains that don't heal lead to torn ligaments and tendons. These don't ever heal and require stitching back together. So it is best if you just confine them until they start pacing to get out. Then you know they are healed for the most part.

As for the watery poop, this can be from either stress or not having access to any food or water depending on how long she struggled on the coop floor.

I would however, if you haven't wormed them in the past 12 months, get everybody wormed as a precaution however this splay leg thing probably has nothing to do with worms unless she is incredibly thin.

So....see if you can do the test for egg binding and let us know if she is egg bound. You can do it, I just know it!!

 

[Mountain Peeps]

That is why I wanted you to check if she flinched because this would probably indicate whether she did in fact injure herself. You have said in the past she has had leg issues from some frost bite. However she could have just slipped and fell off from a shove from another bird or something not related to previous leg issues.

I know the egg exam is scary at first, LOL, but after you have tried this, it is very easy to do next time and this lets us know she is definitely not egg bound. Egg binding is too serious to mess around with. Take your time. You can do it!!!

I think if she passes the egg binding test and is not egg bound, this is most likely an injury from a fall. So I would confine her in a tiny cage for a few days or even a week, depending on how she improves. Keep the food and water right there and limit her walking. If she sprained something, this could take a week or more to heal. Sprains that don't heal lead to torn ligaments and tendons. These don't ever heal and require stitching back together. So it is best if you just confine them until they start pacing to get out. Then you know they are healed for the most part.

As for the watery poop, this can be from either stress or not having access to any food or water depending on how long she struggled on the coop floor.

I would however, if you haven't wormed them in the past 12 months, get everybody wormed as a precaution however this splay leg thing probably has nothing to do with worms unless she is incredibly thin.

So....see if you can do the test for egg binding and let us know if she is egg bound. You can do it, I just know it!!

Ok thanks, Two Crows!

I'll try the egg binding test then

Should I keep her in tonight? I just don't want her to get attacked when she goes back outside since she has been gone for all this time. I did notice that she hasn't been eating or drinking much these past few days. But she has been eating and drinking a LOT today.

 

[MacCana]

There's a problem that generally happens in young chicks, but I've heard of it happening in adults occasionally too. Could it be possible that her tendon has slipped out of place on her "elbows"? Normally, this tendon runs right up the middle of the back of the leg and sits snugly in a little "valley" type indention on the back of the "elbow" or the joint where her legs bend. If this has slipped out, it can cause her legs to turn outwards or inwards (usually its outwards) and make it to where they cannot really walk. If it isn't massaged back into place soon enough, the join will swell and once the inflamation has set in, it becomes harder to move the tendon back into place. If it can't be moved back the chicken has virtually no chance of being able to walk again.

 

[Mountain Peeps]

There's a problem that generally happens in young chicks, but I've heard of it happening in adults occasionally too. Could it be possible that her tendon has slipped out of place on her "elbows"? Normally, this tendon runs right up the middle of the back of the leg and sits snugly in a little "valley" type indention on the back of the "elbow" or the joint where her legs bend. If this has slipped out, it can cause her legs to turn outwards or inwards (usually its outwards) and make it to where they cannot really walk. If it isn't massaged back into place soon enough, the join will swell and once the inflamation has set in, it becomes harder to move the tendon back into place. If it can't be moved back the chicken has virtually no chance of being able to walk again.

Would she still be able to stand if this happened?

 

[MacCana]

Sometimes. Usually they can still hold themselves up, but getting around is very difficult and they tend to not stand straight up but rather hunched with the legs still bent. You should be able to feel of her legs with your finger and if it's slipped out you'll feel the tendon running up the side of the leg rather than sitting in its place on the back of the leg.