Help!!! Limping 6-8 week old chick!

[JenniferC]

One of my chickens is limping. Not just that- she's become the runt of the flock, and the other day I saw her hanging by herself in the coop while the others were out foraging- which is weird.

I looked at her legs and feet and the toes on the limping side foot are curled under a bit- not splayed like normal.

There's no sign of injury or blood anywhere. I wondered if one of my kids might have hurt her, but I can't imagine how they would have.

Do chickens sprain their legs?

Has anyone else seen this type of thing?

 

[JenniferC]

Oh- and she fell in the pond the other day. She struggled to get out, then just sat there floating. I took her out, but maybe she injured herself trying to claw her way out.

The only thing is that I didn't notice the limp for 2 or 3 days after that incident. I know tendonitis can take a while to get inflamed, but that is a bit weird.

 

[LynneP]

Sounds like she'll need some extra pampering, and maybe some electrolytes in her water. Mrs AK Bird Brain wrote recently on treating curled toes but I'm not sure that's what you mean. But if it is that, it can be corrected. I'm hopeing one of the members with experience will jump in to help you on this one. You could copy this post to the Emergency section too...