Injured pullet

[aart]

I'll give that a try. I've been giving her some scratch, black oil sunflower seed & 16% laying crumble augmented with mealworms and a few earthworms. I've also been giving her some fresh grass, dandelions and small amounts of clover. She also gets some occasional tomato and cucumber. Like I said earlier, after the first 12 hours or so, her appetite has been strong.

At 12 weeks old she shouldn't eating layer feed, she should still be on starter/grower(18-20%).
All those other goodies are diluting the nutrients in the main feed.

 

[jjstephens]

Does she seem to limp or hold up a leg? Do her legs seem to work and bend properly? Does she ever sit with her legs out in front? Could she have a spinal deformity? Pictures can sometimes help. I am not very good at posting pics though.

She flops more than walks, but when when she is able to walk there is definitely a limp. She's favoring her LEFT leg (earlier I had posted it was her right leg but I guess I forgot from 1st grade which is right and which is left )

I don't feel any external damage in either leg and both seem to bend normally. I have not seen her sitting with her legs out front.

I had not considered a spinal injury but that might explain it. Prior to her fall she was a completely normal bird. Something got injured in that fall. I just can't find anything visible.

Here's a pic of her on top of the dog cage I'm isolating her in. Since the injury she usually holds her head a little higher; in other words, she's a little more upright. Just as I snapped this pic she dropped her head and was getting ready to hop down to the ground.

Here's a pic from the other side. As you can see, her left leg is pulled back and she's resting mostly on the right foot.

One thing I did notice while taking the pics is that her bottom is dirty because she can't lift up when she does her business. I'm going to try a gentle rinse followed by an epsom bath.

 

[jjstephens]

At 12 weeks old she shouldn't eating layer feed, she should still be on starter/grower(18-20%).
All those other goodies are diluting the nutrients in the main feed.

Good to know.

 

[jjstephens]

It's now been 3 1/2 weeks and my little bird is slowly getting better. She's still upright but is walking (actually, more waddling) a tiny bit better and sometimes sleeps in a crouch now (previously she would prop herself upright).

I did give her some NutriDrench (per the bottle instructions both undiluted and in her water) and 20% chick feed. She loves the NutriDrench--practically attacks the eye dropper I use!
I guess I'll just need to give her more time to heal up.

On another note, about a week ago I got a freebie roo from a neighbor who needed to get rid of it. I have him in a separate pen adjoining my hens/pullets. I also have some 'who knows what' pullets I acquired a couple weeks ago. Anyway, I don't know if it was just their time or if the roo stimulated them but practically overnight those pullets went from virtually no comb/wattles to bulging and deep red and have started laying. I'm not sure what they are but they're laying smallish blue eggs. They're blue-gray and pretty fluffy. I was thinking maybe blue Australorps but their eggs are typically brown and these birds are laying blue eggs. This is not one of my birds but they look just like this (mine are maybe a tad bluer).