Hen sick/injured

[JFF12]

I’ve got a BO hen. Her body looks swollen and she’s limping. Just from a quick Internet search either bumble foot or egg lodged? She’s about 22 weeks and the flock just started laying this week. I’m gonna check her feet. It has been raining for the past several days. Don’t know if that helps. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

[coach723]

Pictures of the feet, top and bottom would help. She looks swollen, how exactly? Just feathers fluffed up, or her abdomen feels swollen? Or crop?
Do you know if she was laying yet? What do droppings look like? Is she eating, drinking, behaving normally except for the limp?

 

[JFF12]

Pictures of the feet, top and bottom would help. She looks swollen, how exactly? Just feathers fluffed up, or her abdomen feels swollen? Or crop?
Do you know if she was laying yet? What do droppings look like? Is she eating, drinking, behaving normally except for the limp?

Her feet look ok to me, but again I’m new at this. I picked her up and she didn’t feel swollen so I guess she was just puffed up. She’s eating, drinking and was trying her best to keep up with the flock. She ate from my hand while I was holding her. I went ahead and separated her in a kennel inside the coop so she is still with the flock. I’m wondering if she just hurt her leg. My rooster had just started mating then the last couple of weeks so I wondered if maybe he hurt her. I also wondered about her jumping off the roost, but roost bars are about 3’ up. I thought about lowering them, maybe I should.

 

[JFF12]

Pictures of the feet, top and bottom would help. She looks swollen, how exactly? Just feathers fluffed up, or her abdomen feels swollen? Or crop?
Do you know if she was laying yet? What do droppings look like? Is she eating, drinking, behaving normally except for the limp?

Also, I don’t know if she has laid yet. I’ve got 8 pullets and I’ve gotten 3 eggs so far, starting this week.

 

[fluffycrow]

Photos would be greatly appreciated

 

[coach723]

BO's tend to be heavier, so a 3' jump from a roost is a bit high. I try to keep jumps to no more than about 18", to help prevent injuries and bumblefoot.

 

[JFF12]

BO's tend to be heavier, so a 3' jump from a roost is a bit high. I try to keep jumps to no more than about 18", to help prevent injuries and bumblefoot.

 

[JFF12]

BO's tend to be heavier, so a 3' jump from a roost is a bit high. I try to keep jumps to no more than about 18", to help prevent injuries and bumblefoot.

 

[JFF12]

BO's tend to be heavier, so a 3' jump from a roost is a bit high. I try to keep jumps to no more than about 18", to help prevent injuries and bumblefoot.

 

[coach723]

No signs of bumblefoot, I don't see any swelling or obvious signs of injury. She may just have tweaked something. I would just keep an eye on her, sprains and strains are not uncommon and can resolve in days or weeks or months, depending. If any bruising shows up it will likely look greenish. If she seems to really be hurting then you can soak her legs and feet in a warm epsom salt bath, make sure she's completely dry before going back out. And I would look at lowering your roosts, or use something to make it so she can step up and down from them, stacked bales of hay or straw can work. A couple of small jumps rather than one big one. If you have space you can make a ramp, just don't make the angle too steep. You can also ladder your roosts, so they get to the top one by using the lower ones.