Hen limping, black specks and not using 1 leg much

[Joyze172]

Lacey is very pretty! It does look like she is improving. Glad you were able to consult your vet and get medication for her.
Thank you for the update.

Thank you! I am very pleased with her progress.

She is a very adorable soft fluffy pullet and quite affectionate. When I take her out of the crate she snuggles her head by my neck in my hair. She has melted my and knows how to get extra treats using her cuteness.

 

[Joyze172]

Update:

If my calculation is correct it has been 5 weeks (2 week observation + 3 weeks post vet visit) since Laceys injury.

She is doing much better. Has a slight limp, no more leg guarding. She has 1 more week on crate rest and Meloxicam. It will be a few months before I can get her integrated into the flock again due to the mass amount of snow and cold in my area this year. I had been bringing in a flock mate regularly until end of last week when they started fighting. That was when I realized she is now a complete outsider .

I let her out to walk around and stretch in our garage daily.

 

[Eggcessive]

She is doing great. When the time comes and the weather is better, I would move her dog crate into the chicken coop, and slowly start to re-integrate them, eventually having some supervised free ranging until she is back with them. Thanks for the update.

 

[fldiver97]

Good to hear she’s doing better! Thanks for the update. Agree with eggcessive, being able to see but not harm will be a great first step for integrating her with her flock!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Update:

If my calculation is correct it has been 5 weeks (2 week observation + 3 weeks post vet visit) since Laceys injury.

She is doing much better. Has a slight limp, no more leg guarding. She has 1 more week on crate rest and Meloxicam. It will be a few months before I can get her integrated into the flock again due to the mass amount of snow and cold in my area this year. I had been bringing in a flock mate regularly until end of last week when they started fighting. That was when I realized she is now a complete outsider .

I let her out to walk around and stretch in our garage daily.

She looks so much better!
Thank you for the update.

 

[Joyze172]

Update:
Lacey is still in a crate in the garage. She free ranges all day long with the flock. Thought she was ready to go back into the big coop so I put her in tonight. It didn’t go well.

None of the chickens were in the coop so I put her in. One came up and all was well, 2nd chicken came up and didn’t like her there. She was chased around a bit then jumped up onto the perch that is 20” up. I watched as she struggled to balance on the perch. She struggled a lot until she fell off. Rooster was up in the coop by then and she got jumped by him and another hen. I ran to her rescue to get her out.

I am so sad . She acts normal, walks normal, but can’t perch. Is she ever going to be able to go back with the flock? How do I get her to be able to sit on a perch?

 

[micstrachan]

What is the perch made of? Can you make her a 2x4 wilting flat side upper house so she can just stand on it without gripping?

 

[Joyze172]

What is the perch made of? Can you make her a 2x4 wilting flat side upper house so she can just stand on it without gripping?

The Perch is a 2x4 layed so the chickens perch on the 4” side. Should I make the perch 8”? Is that too wide?

I think your right... she can’t seem to grip like she use to with the leg that was injured a while ago.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Update:
Lacey is still in a crate in the garage. She free ranges all day long with the flock. Thought she was ready to go back into the big coop so I put her in tonight. It didn’t go well.

None of the chickens were in the coop so I put her in. One came up and all was well, 2nd chicken came up and didn’t like her there. She was chased around a bit then jumped up onto the perch that is 20” up. I watched as she struggled to balance on the perch. She struggled a lot until she fell off. Rooster was up in the coop by then and she got jumped by him and another hen. I ran to her rescue to get her out.

I am so sad . She acts normal, walks normal, but can’t perch. Is she ever going to be able to go back with the flock? How do I get her to be able to sit on a perch?

I'm sorry to hear that!
A wider board may or may not help.
Free ranging with the others is one thing that may be more "neutral territory", going into the coop can be a whole other set of problems.

Try letting her go in with the flock and see what happens, she may be last in, but she might find a place then.

 

[Joyze172]

I'm sorry to hear that!
A wider board may or may not help.
Free ranging with the others is one thing that may be more "neutral territory", going into the coop can be a whole other set of problems.

Try letting her go in with the flock and see what happens, she may be last in, but she might find a place then.

That’s a great idea.

My biggest concern is her being able to balance and sleep on the perch. I worry about her falling off. She couldn’t stay on the perch tonight for more than 2 min and even then she struggled to stay on until she finally fell off backwards.