Injured Leg - A Success Story

[Shayna]

I'm writing this to help out others who may run into the same situation, because when my chicken's leg was injured, I didn't have much luck finding info on what works. The threads I found either ended badly or were never updated.

Two weeks ago I was sliding over a pen which caused my chickens to jump and freak out a little bit. Shortly after I noticed one of my favorite paint pullets was laying down. When I made her get up, she had a bad limp, and hold her leg a little bit outward at an angle. By the next day she refused to walk at all, but she could kick both legs if I picked her up. I put in a divider so she had a portion of the pen just to herself, but could see the others. I put polyvisol and vitamin B complex in her water. I put her directly in front of the food and water multiple times a day to encourage her to eat and drink well. She didn't have much appetite. She mostly sat at an angle with her foot a little bit out on one side. I otherwise left her be, hoping that her leg would heal. I did have to snip the feathers on her rear, as I found that her poop would stick to her when she wasn't moving around.

After about 8 days, I noticed she was preening herself a lot and eating a lot more. She was very alert and I could tell she was feeling better. I started picking her up and holding her for balance, but encouraging her to put weight on her legs for short periods. A couple days later (yesterday) she was standing by herself. Last night she took a couple steps. This morning she's walking all over the place like nothing was ever wrong. I'm so happy she's doing well. I plan to keep up the vitamins and wait a couple weeks before I put her back with the others. Hope my experience helps someone else.

Here she is, up and walking. (a little bit wet from her water)

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Great success story. Resting the leg is really key. I'm glad your cute hen is doing well.

 

[CMV]

Glad she lived to tell the tale. Good luck with her.

 

[NanaRose]

Thank you for this post. My 7month old Barred Rock turned up limping 8 days ago. The first day she would not get up and would fall over to the right side. I separated her, examined, could find nothing, but she couldn't use the leg. Next day she was standing a bit, but her foot is up in an arched position. I had a chick do this same thing in the brooder cage at 2 weeks. I separated her, and she got well quite quickly, and is fine and laying eggs today.

Recovery is not happening so fast for my Barred Rock. She is better, alert, and will walk for several yards, then goes down. Her foot remains in an arched position. I don't see anything wrong with it. I thought she may have a hip problem, but she can easily scratch her head with the foot and leg. Waiting and praying.

 

[Shayna]

Thank you for this post. My 7month old Barred Rock turned up limping 8 days ago. The first day she would not get up and would fall over to the right side. I separated her, examined, could find nothing, but she couldn't use the leg. Next day she was standing a bit, but her foot is up in an arched position. I had a chick do this same thing in the brooder cage at 2 weeks. I separated her, and she got well quite quickly, and is fine and laying eggs today.

Recovery is not happening so fast for my Barred Rock. She is better, alert, and will walk for several yards, then goes down. Her foot remains in an arched position. I don't see anything wrong with it. I thought she may have a hip problem, but she can easily scratch her head with the foot and leg. Waiting and praying.

I hope she gets better for you! Give her vitamin supplements to encourage her body to heal and sometimes hold her up and try to help her walk if she's had several days of rest. If it's an injury I think it's best to let them rest for a few days before trying to have them put weight on it. If she is capable of moving both legs (mess with her toes and see if she can pull them away) that's a good sign.

Also keep her in a pretty small space so she can't try to run all over and her steps are small when she does try to start walking.

Good luck!

 

[NanaRose]

Thank you for the encouragement. I am puzzled over my girl. Her foot remains arched. Having seen many red blotches on her feet, I have soaked her feet and applied antibiotic. The red blotches appear gone, and she is walking better, with an arched foot. Maybe it will remain that way. Maybe it was broken. I have no clue, learning as I go.

 

[Shayna]

Hmmm well in that case you may want to try to figure out some type of shoe that will hold her foot correctly and protect it from being directly on the ground.... I haven't experienced that before, but I'm hoping she heals ok. They have quite the ability to heal.

 

[Ma Hyde]

Thanks for this post. My favorite hen has an injured leg, but I can't see anything wrong. Tonight I separated her & put food & water close by. Will try the antibiotic tomorrow. First I'm trying to nurse her. This may sound silly, but if I figure out it was due to "pecking order", I'm getting rid of Big Red.

 

[bigboy70]

Hello, I have a barred rock Roo who hurt his leg bout a month ago majority of the time he's stationary standing on one leg or laying down I haven't heard him crow since I took him to his permanent home and he's gone out of the coop latley but lays down for a while. If he wants to go far he flies. He has 5 girls so temptation is there I don't know what I can do to help his leg heal I don't wanna see this guy suffer through life. Maybe you could help me out? Any help would be great. Thanks

 

[C-M-D]

Last year my 8 month old Wyandotte recovered from a frostbitten leg and now I have a 20 month old Buff Orpington currently recovering from a leg or foot injury, possibly from slipping on ice. I bring the injured bird into the house in a cage made from two laundry baskets until she stands - usually about a week - and then in a dog crate until her leg seems better - another week. I take the crate outside during the day if the weather is OK, and let the other chickens visit. I have a small flock and my current invalid is low on the pecking order so I'm going to have to be careful about reintroducing her.