Help! Hen has Injured foot!

[Shezadandy]

I caused quite a bit of chaos in the run, but I was eventually able to pick her up and get some close up pictures of her foot with the help of my sister. She protested at first but was fine once I was holding her.

I think I might see the problem, actually. It should be simple to splint and support if it is the only problem I've circled the area I think is injured in your picture.

 

[Shezadandy]

In a couple of your other pictures - the area is swollen and a little discolored.

 

[Eggcessive]

Here is a video that shows splinting of a broken bone in the same area as the swelling:

She might do okay in the run during the day, since it is relatively small. But then you could remove her at roost time, and put her back with the flock when they come out and down the ladder each morning.

 

[Shezadandy]

Here's a quick video:

 

[Shezadandy]

Here is a video that shows splinting of a broken bone in the same area as the swelling:

She might do okay in the run during the day, since it is relatively small. But then you could remove her at roost time, and put her back with the flock when they come out and down the ladder each morning.

LOL we got there in the same millisecond!

 

[Shezadandy]

Here is a very blurry video of her walking. Then she decided to sit before pecking at the ground.

How can I pen her separately from the other birds? She probably has to stay inside the coop. Maybe just some chicken wire or hardware cloth separating an area in the coop? Also she and the rooster get very frantic when they are separated.

I would get a wire dog cage- like what they use to exhibit - and get a mat to make a solid surface on the bottom. Then she's still very much there with her group without jumping around.
This is what I'm talking about- just make the bottom non-slip- a good thing to have around for all future injuries or illnesses- or if you can rig something, that's good too. A hint for a cleaner crate- I've also linked to cage bowls that attach to the side or door of a crate - then they can't dump it over with a clumsy step. Nothing starts smelling faster worse than the wet bottom of a crate.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078VZQJWY/?tag=backy-20

 

[JoeInPA]

Im glad you were able to see the problem, thank you! I wouldn't have noticed that. I will need someone here to help me hold her so that I can wrap her foot but that won't be for several hours at least. In the meantime, I have a dog crate that will fit inside the coop with some food and water. It measures 2'x1.5'x1.5' that I can get her into. She is very hesitant about being handled so it may cause some chaos getting her in there but hopefully one I have her in there she will be okay.

 

[JoeInPA]

I just got home and she was outside in the run with the rest of the flock. She was laying down in the straw, but she stood up and limped over when she saw me. So she isn't totally lame.

I'm just trying to give you guys as much info as possible.

 

[Shezadandy]

I'm glad she's got some mobility. It could be that once you get her splinted, she'll get along even better than you expect. The good news is she injured herself in a very easy to treat spot, so the wrap will just be around her shank and need not involve the actual foot (wrapping chicken feet is ... a pain in the …)

Whatever you use on each side of her shank/leg- popsicle sticks, emery boards, heck: cinnamon sticks -- the main thing is to ensure the ends of it don't rub either her foot or the joint above, so they'll want to be as long as possible to go the length of the bone, while avoiding rubbing joints above or below.

What I like to do is wrap the supports (popsicle sticks, whatever) in vetwrap (coflex, whatever brand of self-adhesive stuff) - they'll stay in place better when you go to splint. It won't take much - and then you can kind of pad the sharp ends at the top and bottom with the vetwrap. The vetwrapped support sticks will stay in place very nicely against the cotton pads and/or gauze so you can do the overwrap.

If she's overly feisty about getting splinted even with two people, consider wrapping her in a towel- a little chicken burrito.

p.s. love your truck, I've got an '88 F250 diesel, my favorite thing to drive … though the paint on mine … well … 'shop worn'

 

[JoeInPA]

I'm glad she's got some mobility. It could be that once you get her splinted, she'll get along even better than you expect. The good news is she injured herself in a very easy to treat spot, so the wrap will just be around her shank and need not involve the actual foot (wrapping chicken feet is ... a pain in the …)

Whatever you use on each side of her shank/leg- popsicle sticks, emery boards, heck: cinnamon sticks -- the main thing is to ensure the ends of it don't rub either her foot or the joint above, so they'll want to be as long as possible to go the length of the bone, while avoiding rubbing joints above or below.

What I like to do is wrap the supports (popsicle sticks, whatever) in vetwrap (coflex, whatever brand of self-adhesive stuff) - they'll stay in place better when you go to splint. It won't take much - and then you can kind of pad the sharp ends at the top and bottom with the vetwrap. The vetwrapped support sticks will stay in place very nicely against the cotton pads and/or gauze so you can do the overwrap.

If she's overly feisty about getting splinted even with two people, consider wrapping her in a towel- a little chicken burrito.

p.s. love your truck, I've got an '88 F250 diesel, my favorite thing to drive … though the paint on mine … well … 'shop worn'

Thank you for the advice! I'm hoping someone will get home soon so that I can get a splint on it. In the meantime, I changed out the straw in the run so that she has dry clean bedding to walk on. I also changed out the bedding in the coop and put the dog crate in there. I didn't think the coop bedding would be that bad because I just changed it out but man, it was filled with poop.

Anyways She will go in the crate tonight but I don't want to pull her away from the others while she's out in the run foraging around.

She is very feisty about being held or handled at all, a blanket or towel will probably be necessary. (Interestingly my white rocks don't care at all about being held.)

Thanks for the compliment on the truck, i just parked it for the winter (yeah I'm too much of a wuss to take it out in the salt and snow!)