Help! Possible broken hip/thigh

[Dcarey]

Hello all! So a little history is needed on this one. We’ve had a running problem with raccoons and opossums killing our birds at night. So the other night when I was woken up by the noise of a chicken fighting I ran outside to their yard. Well it was pitch black almost and something came running past me so I picked up a stick and ran it down and when I approached it I smacked it rather hard. Well as soon as I hit it I knew I messed up bc it started crying. Turns out it was one of my hens outside the coop and who had just fought off an attacker. As soon as I realized that my brain switched gears and I scooped her up and ran inside. I put her in a box with bedding and about 20 mins later she laid a broken egg very early, didn’t even have the bloom on it. I’m pretty sure the whole egg came out though. But my big concern is her leg. I love this little girl and I REALLY don’t want to put her down. She’s been isolated now for two days, she’s been eating and drinking, she’ll pant on occasion, she’s attempting to hobble around, but she isn’t able to put any weight on her left leg, it’s warm to the touch, her leg quivers sometimes and her tail has mainly been pointing downwards. Her wing seems fine, she’s able to move it, flap it, use it to balance. She’s still grooming. As of right at this moment she’s outside her box hopping around a small area devouring her wet food. Attached is a photo of how she’s standing

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

oh poor thing. Keep supporting her, I hoe she recovers soon

 

[nuthatched]

I'm sorry this happened.
can you gently feel up up her leg?
How are predators getting into your coop?

 

[Dcarey]

Thank you! She’s got a fiery personality so I have faith she’ll recover. Just need some pointers to help her out.

And in regards to how they’re getting in, I haven’t decided that’s the case but my thoughts would be they lifted the little chicken door (which weighs about 6-7 lbs) and snatched her by the tail or leg and pulled her out. Another note is that when I built their coop I didn’t realize most doors open downwards and act as a ramp, so theirs opens upwards and they have a front porch and canopy during the day.

But my other train of thought is that she slipped out last night between me doing a headcount and then stepping out to close their little door and then I typically just poke my head in real quick and look to see all of them before I shut and lock the human door. I’ve been swearing to myself that I saw her when I locked them up but there’s still that little kernel of doubt.

And as for other security measures, every opening bigger than a quarter inch is covered with 1/4” hardware cloth or a solid piece of wood. The chickens like to scratch and dust bathe literally right against the side of the coop so I can’t really tell if anything’s been trying to dig into it, but I also buried the same hardware cloth about 8” down and then about 2’ out from the wall and it’s all covered by the roof overhang except for the front but I’ve been thinking of a way to extend the roof out with a partial gable. Which the roof is metal. I tried really hard to make it as predator proof as I could when I initially built it so there weren’t a bunch of alterations needing to be made after the fact.

 

[Dcarey]

Also every door, lid, access panel, and window shutter has a latch of some kind on it. And I tend to mount them to where you have to use a bit of force to either latch or unlatch them.

 

[Dcarey]

Update! I just found this in her box and I’m not entirely sure what it is.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Looks like a long membrane, but if you can cut it open so we can see the contents that would be great.