Hen not putting weight on leg - couple questions

[Yogimama]

Advice needed

One sentence I never thought I’d say…
Today, I fed an injured/sick chicken scrambled eggs in my bathroom.

First time chicken mama here. I’ll try to keep this brief..
This hen (Thelma) came in last night, after me discovering she was sleeping in the nesting box for the second night in a row, had broken egg plastered all over her belly feathers, dirty vent, didn’t want to put weight on her leg, and had an empty crop. Out of a flock of 6 (5 hens, 1 roo…all approx 9 months old) she is at the bottom of the pecking order (always has been). I set her up in the house with a large dog crate with hay, food and water. She was warm, happy to eat (a little), poop looked normal, I didn’t see any blood or any obvious injury, and it was really late, so I left her be for the night.

This morning, she nibbled at some kale, still didn’t want to put weight on her leg, and tail was even more pointed down. So, we have had an epsom salt bath, a blow dry, scrambled eggs, and a better look over. I think I have safely ruled out egg bound, mites, no obvious issues with her foot (ie: cuts, swelling, Bumblefoot, etc). She has full use of her leg/foot, it doesn’t seem any hotter, swollen or different to feel/look compared to the other leg, but she doesn’t seem to appreciate if much I move around much. Her mood does seem to be much better, she is limping/moving around a bit, and her tail seems to be back where it belongs. So this leaves me with a few questions….

1) how long can a bird stay out of the flock before re-integration is a painful process? (Obviously I will keep her out until she’s 100% back to normal, but curious about the next steps).

2) I’m leaning towards a joint/muscle type injury, but is there anything besides electrolytes I should be getting at tractor supply? (going to get those & bedding).

3) I am reading this *could* actually be from either Merck’s (spelling), in which case I will NOT see improvement over time, or be a result of nutritional deficiency caused by bullying (in which case I should see quick improvement). Can anyone with experience confirm/rule out these two “maybes”?

4) any other thoughts? As I said, I’m new to chickens, so very possibly am missing something important or obvious.

I took video, but just realized I can’t attach it
Thanks!

 

[Yogimama]

https://www.facebook.com/1007234056/posts/pfbid02A2XhkrmhqtcnoMYDpcPHiRekpb7oD1WRK92JNcchneugAnS5aNQx9x9nJzZaC1Vvl

 

[Firsttimehens1234]

Sorry to hear about the hen, I unfortunately can’t really say anything about the injury.

but don’t feel stressed that you need to put her back into the flock as soon as possible, i kept one of my chickens out for the flock for about 3 weeks. She was also at the bottom of the pecking order and the re-integration went super smooth.I put mine in at night and the next day they were almost totally fine with her being there
Also if she lets you check under her foot to see if you can see anything, like swelling, thorns, or wounds

 

[Yogimama]

Sorry to hear about the hen, I unfortunately can’t really say anything about the injury.

but don’t feel stressed that you need to put her back into the flock as soon as possible, i kept one of my chickens out for the flock for about 3 weeks. She was also at the bottom of the pecking order and the re-integration went super smooth.I put mine in at night and the next day they were almost totally fine with her being there
Also if she lets you check under her foot to see if you can see anything, like swelling, thorns, or wounds

Thank you for the reassurance
I had my boyfriend hold her so I could look over her foot/leg real well…nothing problematic to be seen at all.

 

[Eggcessive]

To keep her part of the flock, try to bring her back in once a day supervised to peck around so they see each other. Watch to see if anyone tries to peck or go after her. Letting her stay near them inside a wire dog crate with food and water is another way. I try to never have a hen out of the flock for more than 5 days, as they may be attacked.

At her age Mareks should be considered, especially if she is nit vaccinated, but injury could still be a problem. Sometimes if one is having reproductive disorders or getting egg bound with shell-less or oversize egg, there can be some temporary paralysis in one or both legs. Have you spinserted a clean or glove finger inside her vent to check for an egg?

 

[Firsttimehens1234]

Sorry to hear about the hen, I unfortunately can’t really say anything about the injury.

,i kept one of my chickens out for the flock for about 3 weeks.

I forgot to add that when she was out of the e flock she did stay in a coop right beside them wich meant that they could see each other and hear each other

My hen got temporarily paralyzed in her one leg when she was egg bound

 

[Yogimama]

To keep her part of the flock, try to bring her back in once a day supervised to peck around so they see each other. Watch to see if anyone tries to peck or go after her. Letting her stay near them inside a wire dog crate with food and water is another way. I try to never have a hen out of the flock for more than 5 days, as they may be attacked.

At her age Mareks should be considered, especially if she is nit vaccinated, but injury could still be a problem. Sometimes if one is having reproductive disorders or getting egg bound with shell-less or oversize egg, there can be some temporary paralysis in one or both legs. Have you spinserted a clean or glove finger inside her vent to check for an egg?

I don’t have room IN the coop for the crate. But I can do supervised visits, good idea!

I have not actually investigated inside the vent, but I am 99% sure she laid yesterday (unless someone else did double duty), and she is pooping (which I thought wouldn’t be the case if egg bound?).. she has not laid today, as of right now.

 

[Eggcessive]

If she is pooping normally, she probably is not egg bound.