Limping hen questions, please!

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

I searched limping hens on here and haven't found out how long it should take for what appears to be a muscle injury to heal...

She got beat up by a mama hen who didn't like this hen coming into her babies' pen. So she had lost feathers and was limping pretty badly. I separated her for a few days. She is eating well, laying (as far as I can tell now) but, she is still limping pretty badly. I am fairly certain it is not broken. It does not seem dislocated and there is no external injury such as mites or bumble...

Any further suggestions?? I don't want to separate her for too long as the flock doees not accept members back with grace.

 

[Tangeygirl]

I had a 1 year old hen limping a month or so ago. There was no injury that I could actually see. No bumblefoot and she wasn't bothered by me moving the leg or foot. Her limp resolved on its own about 2 weeks after it started. I think it was just a strain or sprain. Hopefully your hen is better ASAP!!!!

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

Thanks Tangeygirl,

I wish I knew what to do. She lets me handle the leg and has no visible injury whatsoever. But, it has been almost a month and she still limps. She seems to be reasonably healthy otherwise and while she does not get as many treats (she can't get there fast enough) she seems fine. (Can't tell if she is laying well or not too many hens)

But, it worries me that she is in pain. Could she have dislocated the hip? And if she did would she still be able to walk??

 

[PatS]

One of my birds started limping about Labor Day. I think a turkey beat her up -- they got a little wild and crazy for a while there and acted like juvenile delinquents. Her symptoms sound similar to your bird's. We babied her for a week and she barely walked at all. Thought we'd have to cull her, but put it off. Slowly she began walking. She would take a few steps when we put away the turks and let her out of isolation. Then she would hobble to a bush and sit under it. Then she began disappearing and we'd see her grazing with her friends. It has been two months. You can still see a limp when she runs, but she did get much better.

This girl is a bit zoftig, which probably didn't help her healing. We call her Joan after the character on Mad Men. She has almost the same color feathers as the actress does hair.