Handicap Chicken, or will he heal?

[lilwanderer]

I have a 4 month old cockerel who was involved in a hawk attack. Although I don't think the hawk got him, as there were no claw marks or scratches. I just think that whenever he was fleeing his leg must have gotten pulled by a vine of some sort, as he limps as he walks and prefers not to stand on it at all. It was about a month ago when it happened, and although it does seem he's getting better at walking on it, and he stands on it for longer periods of time now, it doesn't seem to be healing. I've tried to find where the injury is specifically and nothing seems broken, and if it were fractured I'd think it'd be healed by now.

 

[Shadrach]

I have a 4 month old cockerel who was involved in a hawk attack. Although I don't think the hawk got him, as there were no claw marks or scratches. I just think that whenever he was fleeing his leg must have gotten pulled by a vine of some sort, as he limps as he walks and prefers not to stand on it at all. It was about a month ago when it happened, and although it does seem he's getting better at walking on it, and he stands on it for longer periods of time now, it doesn't seem to be healing. I've tried to find where the injury is specifically and nothing seems broken, and if it were fractured I'd think it'd be healed by now.

Dislocation is a possiblity.
Not much you can do about it, especially if it's been some time since the intitial injury.
I've had a couple of cockerels who had leg tendon injuries when they were young and grew up with the limp. They fared well enough with the rest of the chickens but should you free range your chickens and the cockerel is in that group any predator is going to pick him out as injured/weak and he's likely to die.

 

[lilwanderer]

I have a 4 month old cockerel who was involved in a hawk attack. Although I don't think the hawk got him, as there were no claw marks or scratches. I just think that whenever he was fleeing his leg must have gotten pulled by a vine of some sort, as he limps as he walks and prefers not to stand on it at all. It was about a month ago when it happened, and although it does seem he's getting better at walking on it, and he stands on it for longer periods of time now, it doesn't seem to be healing. I've tried to find where the injury is specifically and nothing seems broken, and if it were fractured I'd think it'd be healed by now.

Dislocation is a possiblity.
Not much you can do about it, especially if it's been some time since the intitial injury.
I've had a couple of cockerels who had leg tendon injuries when they were young and grew up with the limp. They fared well enough with the rest of the chickens but should you free range your chickens and the cockerel is in that group any predator is going to pick him out as injured/weak and he's likely to die.

do you think it may be possible he'll grow out of it, as he's only 4 months? And yes I'm aware of the danger he's in in his state, he's in a locked up coop and I only let him roam when im around to watch him.

 

[Shadrach]

do you think it may be possible he'll grow out of it, as he's only 4 months? And yes I'm aware of the danger he's in in his state, he's in a locked up coop and I only let him roam when im around to watch him.

Niether of the two I mentioned grew out of it. They just learned to adapt to it.
A lot depends on what the injury is. A muscle pull shouldn't cause a problem for more than a few days. A pulled or rolled tendon if not caught immediately can be a lifelong problem. A untreated dislocation is also a lifelong problem.
The last two are things that need to be dealt with immediately. What happens other wise is the muscles adapt to the restricted movement over time and it's very difficult and I imagine painful to have a long term dislocation repaired and the muscles relearn the new range of movement.

 

[lilwanderer]

Niether of the two I mentioned grew out of it. They just learned to adapt to it.
A lot depends on what the injury is. A muscle pull shouldn't cause a problem for more than a few days. A pulled or rolled tendon if not caught immediately can be a lifelong problem. A untreated dislocation is also a lifelong problem.
The last two are things that need to be dealt with immediately. What happens other wise is the muscles adapt to the restricted movement over time and it's very difficult and I imagine painful to have a long term dislocation repaired and the muscles relearn the new range of movement.

Random, but update on him, with good news, he has healed completely. He's a very pretty roo and I'm quite releaved that he ended up growing out of it.

 

[Eggcessive]

Glad to hear that he has recovered, and thanks for the update.

 

[Shadrach]

I'm pleased to read he has recovered.

 

[artbykarenehaley]

What a handsome young roo he turned into, glad he grew out of his limp!