I have a 15 mo. old hen - "Shirley" - that injured her leg in February. I asked about that incident in this thread> https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/853967/leg-injury-how-to-handle
She recovered from the injury and has been back with the flock doing fine since then. Last week I thought I saw her limp again. A few hours later and she seemed fine. Seemed like it had stiffened up on her but she was better after she got moving around. Then the limp got worse and it was obvious to me that it was keeping her from scratching about and from getting her fair share of food as the other girls were beating her to it and then shoving her out of the way.
I brought her back inside to confine her about three days ago. She's still hobbling about, even in the cage. I've checked her foot for bumblefoot and find no sign of it. She can flex her toes. Like last time, whatever is bothering her appears to be higher up in the thigh. I'm guessing she re-injured the same spot.
She's eating and pooping in the cage but what's different this time is that she's "open mouth" breathing. It doesn't seem to be a full-fledged "pant" but is certainly close to it and it's something I've not seen her do before. It's warm in that bathroom so we moved in fans. Even with it being warmer than the rest of the house, it's no more than 80 degrees and is far cooler than outside. This morning it's almost cool in there but she's still got that mouth open. She has plenty of water available. I'm not seeing any signs of respiratory problems, no snotty nose, no sneezing, no bubbles.
Wondering what this could be indicative of. Stress? Pain? Something else entirely? Whatever it is didn't keep her from laying an egg yesterday. Something very odd about fetching eggs in the bathroom.
Thanks for any advice.
She recovered from the injury and has been back with the flock doing fine since then. Last week I thought I saw her limp again. A few hours later and she seemed fine. Seemed like it had stiffened up on her but she was better after she got moving around. Then the limp got worse and it was obvious to me that it was keeping her from scratching about and from getting her fair share of food as the other girls were beating her to it and then shoving her out of the way.
I brought her back inside to confine her about three days ago. She's still hobbling about, even in the cage. I've checked her foot for bumblefoot and find no sign of it. She can flex her toes. Like last time, whatever is bothering her appears to be higher up in the thigh. I'm guessing she re-injured the same spot.
She's eating and pooping in the cage but what's different this time is that she's "open mouth" breathing. It doesn't seem to be a full-fledged "pant" but is certainly close to it and it's something I've not seen her do before. It's warm in that bathroom so we moved in fans. Even with it being warmer than the rest of the house, it's no more than 80 degrees and is far cooler than outside. This morning it's almost cool in there but she's still got that mouth open. She has plenty of water available. I'm not seeing any signs of respiratory problems, no snotty nose, no sneezing, no bubbles.
Wondering what this could be indicative of. Stress? Pain? Something else entirely? Whatever it is didn't keep her from laying an egg yesterday. Something very odd about fetching eggs in the bathroom.
Thanks for any advice.
