Limping Hen

[Tia Z.]

My hen just started limping all of a sudden. I'm not sure what happened, nothing is stuck in her foot, and nothing attacked her. Can she recover? Should I be worried?

 

[tamelroy]

You sure she has no cut under her foot? If not it could be a sprain. I would keep an eye on her and if it looks worse bring her in and keep her off the foot. Then you can watch her more closely too.

Good luck!

 

[Chicky Tocks]

Funny you should post this...well, not funny, but I noticed one of my girls limping yesterday too. I picked her up and looked her foot over really well but didn't see anything out of the norm.

Be sure that the pad of her foot isn't overly squishy with a hard spot in it. That would signify a possible bumblefoot. Look it up, cause I don't have any experience with it but I'm watching my girl closely for this.

 

[Tia Z.]

I didn't feel a hard spot, it all felt squishy to me. I didn't notice any swelling either. I washed her foot with some soap and water this morning so hopepfully it wont get infected. I'll keep a watch for the bumblefoot though, thanks for the heads up!

 

[bonnylass79]

It may be a sprain. I had a hen a couple weeks ago that wouldn't put any weight on one foot. The next day she had a large bruise on the upper part of her leg. We think she got knocked off the perch by one of the other birds. We put her in a cat carrier to restrict her movement. It took almost two weeks for her to start walking normally again, but she went back out with the flock this weekend.

 

[MomOf15]

One of my girls started limping after Roo pounced on her to do his thing...d*mn men

If I hadn't seen him do it I wouldn't know why she was limping either...it's was a sprain and after several days she was fine.

 

[Tia Z.]

Thanks for sharing, aside from having to chase her to wash her foot, I've been trying to help her get around as much as possible. It seems a little better today. She is a hefty bird so I'm guessing it's a sprain, didn't even think that was possible!