Limping chicken for three weeks

[tweeters]

I have a small flock of seven hands. They all got along very well up until about three weeks ago when I let them out of their coop for some outside time in the evening one of them came flopping out limping badly and missing a ton of her feathers. The other hens jumped on top of her and began pecking and stepping on her. I picked her up and me and my husband inspected her leg and foot and nothing Felt broken. I could see a an abrasion on the top of her foot that she was limping on I could see a an abrasion on the top of her foot that she was limping on, and I figured that she had hurt it somehow or squished it some how and needed to rest it. I put her in isolation inside my house in a laundry basket with food and water. She has been eating and drinking normally. And his even laid about four eggs over the past three weeks while she's in isolation.

Unfortunately when I let her out to walk around she still holding up that leg or the foot is bending over and she limps on it. Tonight I let her outside ,supervised , with the other chickens from her flock. They immediately started fighting like roosters. I know that if I put her back into the flock they will definitely kill her but I can't continue to keep her inside of my house, and life in the laundry basket is not a good life at all ! Does anybody have any suggestions as to how I could help her?

 

[Isaac 0]

Welcome to BYC!

How old are they?How much space do they have?

You can soak her feet in warm water with Epsom salts to relieve pain.Adding 1/4 of a baby aspirin into a treat like yogurt will help tremendously.Once she starts feeling better you can put a dog kennel in there run so they can see and talk to her but cant peck her.

 

[TinyBirds]

When we have that situation i get a dog crate and put it inside the pen for the 1 bird to be separate with their own food and water. That way if she dies, at least it's more peaceful than being eaten alive and stepped on constantly. Good luck!

 

[Isaac 0]

When we have that situation i get a dog crate and put it inside the pen for the 1 bird to be separate with their own food and water. That way if she dies, at least it's more peaceful than being eaten alive and stepped on constantly. Good luck!

If you are putting a sick bird with the others you are risking it.Never put a sick bird near a flock you dont know what disease it has and if its going to spread to your flock.Birds in the wild hide there diseases(Masking Phenomenon) by separating themselves from the flock.Why do they hide away from the flock first because the other birds might kill them since there sick and because its very stressful for them to be near there flock mates when sick.I separate the sick birds in a quarantined area and wait till they are happy and healthy to come out.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

three weeks ago

let them out of their coop for some outside time

came flopping out limping badly and missing a ton of her feathers

abrasion on the top of her foot

I put her in isolation...three weeks while she's in isolation....Unfortunately when I let her out to walk around she still holding up that leg or the foot is bending over and she limps on it

They immediately started fighting like roosters

Hi @tweeters Welcome To BYC

Can you post some photos of your hen and her legs?
Photos of your coop, run and outside area would be helpful.
How old is she?

You mention that you let the flock out of the coop for some outside time - are the chickens confined to a coop only, do they have a run to go into during the day?
How many chickens do you have - how much space (square footage) do you have?

It almost sounds like she was initially attacked inside the coop? There are many reasons chickens will attack a flock member - illness and overcrowding are a couple of the most common.

Did she display any signs of illness while you had her separated - lethargy, runny poop, paralysis, coughing, sneezing, etc.?

She may have had a fracture to the leg which did not heal properly. Without seeing it, it's hard to know.

Anytime a chicken is separated from the flock for whatever reason, there needs to be an integration process. Being separated for 3wks, the flock will attack and view her as an outsider. Since she is limping, she appears weak them as well, this would cause even more aggression.

If you feel that she is well enough to try to rejoin the flock, then try integrating her slowly - place her in a wire dog kennel next to the flock or inside the run. This is a see-but-don't-touch method, you can search for articles about integration here on BYC and the web. Even with this method, some chickens may never be accepted and be bullied/picked on, so have a plan for her if she cannot re-enter the flock.

I look forward to your photos and replies - we will try to help you figure something out.

 

[tweeters]

All of my hens are about 1 year old.
Here's a pic of their coop and run. It's about 40sq ft in the run plus the coop. They have open access to the run all day. I let them out often in the evenings when I can be there to ward off predators.

I tried to get a Pic of her hurt foot/leg. You can see a dark horizontal mark where she had the scrape over the base of her foot where it connects to the leg (ankle) and it's healing.

It is approximately at that spot where she folds over her foot sometimes. In one of these pics you can see her putting her weight on her thigh so to speak instead of her foot.

She has had some runny poop and some normal poop. The runny poop I had attributed to giving her too many treats (since she's living next to my kitchen right now. Lol. ) up until discovering her injured and plucked three weeks ago there was no indication of illness. I suspect that she got injured in the coop at night. Perhaps startled by something, and then the others began pecking her.

She laid another egg this morning. She is eating and drinking great and wants to get around and rejoin the coop. But after her brief meet and greet last night I see she is still in no shape for that. I can put a dog crate in the run. My Main concern right now is if her foot will ever heal or not. Three weeks seems like a long time. I will try the epsom salt soak and aspirin.

Thanks for your help!

 

[tweeters]

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Poor dear.

Soaking in epsom salts may help reduce any swelling and promote healing. Does she indicate any pain if you manipulate the thigh?

I feel badly for her and being near the others can have a healing affect on chicken, but I'm afraid they will attack her again. The run you have doesn't look like it has enough room to get away if they attack. Placing her next to the run would be your best bet - a wire dog kennel works well for this. This way she can see them, but they can't hurt her. As she gets stronger, then you can try letting her free range (monitored) in the evenings. Baby steps.

Offer her extra protein like egg, tuna or meat in addition to her normal feed. It wouldn't hurt to give her poultry vitamins a couple of time a week - look for one that has Riboflavin(Vitamin B2).