Injured foot/leg?

[veronicadm8]

I need some advice. My favorite hen isn't walking, I think she has injured her foot or her leg. She lays down most of the day, when she does walk, she hops on one leg. I don't see a wound, I'm worried it may be broken. Any advice??

 

[chicknmania]

It could be a sprain. If you're worried about a break, feel all the way from feet to drumstick (hip...I mean..

) for heat, or swelling. Sometimes they can get a dislocated hip from an overenthusiastic rooster, and in that case you can feel the difference in the two hip joints.. It is best to put her in a smaller pen...or cage. Where she can hear and see the others, but not move around so much. You can give her baby aspirin twice a day, in a treat. It takes a couple of weeks, (two at least, three is better) but rest can make a big difference in how well she walks. Make sure she eats and drinks well. I like to spoil ours with special treats (fruit, banana, yogurt, oatmeal, tomato, hen treats, etc) once in a while when they are in a hospital pen, I think it keeps them cheerful and acts as a sort of enrichment. If you notice more advanced symptoms, if she starts acting paralyzed or has neurological symptoms, then you might have a bigger problem, but there are still possibilities for treatment even then. In any case, confining her will give you a better handle on how she is doing and how to treat her.

 

[veronicadm8]

Thank you. I have mareks in my flock, but this looks more like an injury. I will see if i can feel anything & try the aspirin

 

[chicknmania]

Also even if you can't find the injury, try soaking the sore leg/foot once or twice a day in a warm Epsom salts soak for ten minutes or so at a time. Good luck.

 

[veronicadm8]

She is doing much better now. She started to walk again a few days ago (although with a sever limp) and has started roosting again at night too. For awhile though, all she did was sit... in the dirt... and I had a really hard time trying to keep her clean. I thought I did an ok job, but I just noticed that her feet/legs are scaly and dirty, and I'm afraid she may have scaly leg mites. None of the other chickens seem to be affected. Should I just treat it as if it is (vaseline, oil, etc) or could it just be from her injury?? I've never dealt with this before. Any suggestions?? Thanks

 

[chicknmania]

Yes, treat her for scaly leg mites. Use vaseline, and soak in warm epsom salts soaks for that too. Also, you can use cattle ivermec for scaly leg mites...at least that's what it says on the container, I've never tried it. But you'd have to use one or the other, don't use ivermec, and vaseline at the same time, I think it might burn.. The leg mites are what are making her lame, almost certainly. In bad cases the chicken can lose toes from the mites. Treat her once or twice a day with the vaseline, and don't stop until the scales are totally gone. This can take a few weeks. Coat the legs from toe tip to the top of her drumstick, as far up to the feathers as you can. It's really better to keep her in a clean cage like a rabbit cage or something, where she can still be around the others, but it's easier to keep her clean, you can keep an eye on her, and feed her up too. It's important she eats well, if she were mine I'd be giving her vitamins on top of the scaly leg treatment with the vaseline. If you do put her in a pen or cage, make sure she can still socialize with them, that way she won't lose her pecking order place, though I've found hens don't seem to have much problem getting back into the flock after they've been away. Roosters do though.

 

[veronicadm8]

Thanks, I will treat her. But the leg mites are new. I'm sure of it. I thoroughly inspected her when she was first injured, and several times afterwards as well.

 

[chicknmania]

Hmmm. Well, just keep soaking the leg, and treat her for the mites too. And I'd continue with the aspirin til she's totally not lame, or at least over the mites and a lot better.