Limping Hen!

[hickchick]

Hi!
I'm a newbie to chickens and this site. I hope someone has some advice for me. I live in South Fla. and have 18 chickens and a ring- neck pheasant. A week ago one of my 6mo. old hens started limping. I cleaned her foot, but couldn't find any cuts, discoloration or swelling. I've separated her. She's eating normally, but stopped laying. What now??

 

[Judy]

Wish I could tell you. Let's hope it is something that is not serious. Perhaps she injured the leg or hip coming off the roost, for example, and the injury is something that can't bee seen, like a sprain. I would think this could cause her to stop laying for a while. Perhaps she got her leg caught in something, and injured herself while getting untangled. One of my hens tried to jump onto an upside down leaf rake propped in a tool holder, and got her foot caught in the rake. She limped a while but is fine now. They do silly things!

Tell us a little more. What does she eat? Does she have a pen, or does she have free range in a backyard or on a farm? Have you looked at her body closely, for anything unusual on her abdomen, for example? Any sign she might have gotten bitten by a snake? How long has it been since she laid, that you know of? Anything unusual in the poo?

BTW,

Welcome to BYC!

 

[sammi]

need to know what all you feed them
describe the droppings..color and consistency
have they been wormed? if so, when? and what was used?

ditto ddawn..

might try this giving this mix:
these amounts are for 1 day..divide into 3 feeds for the day..give for 5 days along with usual layer feed.

1 cooked chopped egg yolk
1 teaspoon honey
2 tablespoons plain yogurt
3-4 tablespoons water cooked oatmeal
add layer feed to make mix puffy, not soupy or gummy/
also get some poultry vitamins
Poly-vi-sol Liquid baby vitamins, is good since it has Vit. B complex..
try to get Enfamil brand if possible, no iron..give 2-3 drops on beak once a day for a week then taper off for a week.
a tiny dab of Vitamin E oil from capsule might also help.