HELP! problems standing on right leg

[minksroost]

he is still limping. we are on day 4. tried the hock cushion yesterday to try to keep her elbow from turning inward. I'm wondering if it's broken? although we didn't feel anything unusual really. he is still created but not a happy camper. I read that someone kept their chicken confined for up to two weeks before their leg healed. I would feel terrible to wait that long and have something wrong with him that required vet care. i also wanted to ask about roost height. I was wondering if he injured his leg flying down from roost. we have it tiered with three roosts with the highest about 5 ft. is that too high?

 

[Angiebubs]

I have wondered the same thing with my coop set up. The only thing I think of with this is-what would they do in nature? As long as they have a way to get up and down with lower roosts...then I would think the 5 foot roost is fine. I had something happen with a lil banty of mine-one of my first chickens. I hesitated to mention this as I know many people would disagree with my decision, However, Ahmelia injured her legs, and couldn't walk. I took her to a vet-also worried about Mereks...and the vet said it was from one of the following reasons:

floor to hard when jumping down (I use deep litter method so there was plenty of cushion)
vitamin deficieny (I use pelleted food, give supplements, and lots of fruit and veggie treats)
genetic disposition brought on my trauma (jumping down, vitamin deficiency, not enough vitamin D during winter months, stress)

I believe it has to be genetic as none of the rest of the chickens have had issues. I choose to not have her put down and have kept her in a rabbit cage for almost a year. In the summer I take her out for awhile every day and let her play in the grass, in the winter I take her out just to be held. I hope and beleive that she isnt suffering, and she is suh a sweet chicken. I am sure most others wouldnt make the same choice as I did...Ahmelias feet are useless but she gets around on her elbos/hocks and is full of life. I have had to be very careful that other chickens cant get to her when shes out and when Im not looking, as her toes seem to be fasinating to the others.

 

[minksroost]

I don't disagree with your decision. I would probably make the same decision myself given she is not in any pain. Ahmelia sounds like a sweet chicken. It's very sweet what you are doing for her.

You know you said something that I believe could be the culprit. We had a deep litter system. But just two weeks ago cleaned the entire coop because it had hay mixed with pine chips. My Ameraucana had some sort of respiratory issue and was on antibiotics and i was trying to find out what could be causing that. Came across some info about NOT using hay in coops as it can lead to respiratory problems. thus, the hay came out. even though we piled on the pine chips it's still not as deep as it was and the floor under is slick. This is why we try to keep it deep. I'm thinking now that he jumped off the roost one morning and didn't get good footing and hurt his leg. Debating on taking him to the vet today. My husband thinks I haven't given it enough time. Undecided right now. We were so concerned about keeping the coop clean that we put a linoleum floor down to keep it moisture free and then use deep litter so they wouldn't slip. We quickly found out that the litter has to be very deep to keep from slipping on that slick surface. do you have a wood floor?

 

[Angiebubs]

I converted a barn that was previous used for mini horses. For the most part it is cement with a small strip of dirt a foot wide. And that was something that the vet mentioned also (sorry I forgot to list)-slippery floors. I buy pine shavings from fleet farm and my coop is aprox 12 by 20. I think I probably have about 10 bags in there right now and will add about a half a bag a week throughout the winter. That very well could be what happened. And if so, it will take time for the leg to heal. You could try adding vitamins (nutridrench is awesome) to help with the healing. Keep me posted.

 

[minksroost]

took Pip to the vet today. His right tendon is damaged. That would be from elbow/knee to hip. He gave him a shot of cortisone and said to continue to keep him in the crate. Check back with him next Monday and see if it's better. If not then surgical repair of the tendon would be the alternative. I'll wait before I fret over that but I did ask what if we opted to not fix. Would he adapt or is he in pain. The vet seemed to think he would do alright but not to worry about that yet as it may heal fine. He said it was a good idea that we kept him in the crate so hopefully that will help the healing. Stopped and got 4 bags of pine chips on the way home. I put two down and it doesn't seem slippery now. I know it will be when there isn't many chips. Thinking about just pulling up that flooring and leaving the plywood floor. My husband was just thinking it would be easier to clean with the vinyl. But since this we intend to always keep the litter deep. I'll have to look into the nutridrench. I didn't see that at Tractor Supply today. I got something called Poultry Booster. Its pelleted mineral and vitamin supplement for poultry. That was all I saw that would give me the vitamins I was looking for, especially, Vit B and D. thanks so much for all your inputs. I'll let you know how he is doing by the weekend. Happy New Year!

 

[casportpony]

Do some searching for "chicken sling" something like that might help him recover faster.

 

[Suzie]

x 2 - chickenzoo has a wonderful diagram of how to make one - maybe pm her to ask if she can forward it to you,

Good luck!

Suzie

 

[minksroost]

day seven since cortisone injection. doing great. kept him in the crate and saw no limping for two days. let him out just before roosting time yesterday and he did fine. maybe a little weakness but that could just be me being overly cautious. vet said to call tomorrow for update so I'll wait until then and see what he says about leaving him out of the crate. Will give you an update tomorrow. Thanks so much for all your inputs!

 

[minksroost]

That chicken sling is an interesting contraption for sure! Thanks for that tip!

 

[PoultryPedia]

As far as you know, is the the tendon in the groove correctly in the hock? Sometimes they slip out. There is info on that on the Poultry Podiatry page linked in my sig below, if it's useful. Also there is some info on using a "chick sling / chick chair" though no diagram.
I'm glad you found out where the problem is centered. It sounds like crate rest will be very helpful.