little chickie hurt her leg

[chshafer]

my hen, Willa, has 4 little chicks with her and one of the chicks is proving to be troublesome. last week i had to withstand the pummeling from mom and dad to catch her up because she tried to eat a weed/stick that was too big and was sticking out of her beak. she was trying to bring it back up with no luck so i had to go help her out.

i was away over this past weekend and when i went out monday morning, once again she was in distress. when everyone else came to greet me she was slow getting up then i realized she was only using one leg! the other was almost strait out behind her. so once again i had to take the beating and go get the chickie...Willa is an awesome mommy bird and is incredibly protective! I loaded the little thing up in a cat carrier and took her to the vet. they cant find anything seriously wrong with her, shes not broken and doesnt seem to have slipped a tendon but she is very bruised and has a little laceration about her hip. so we are guessing she got her foot caught on something in the pen and has a soft tissue injury.

So now the little one is staying in the house with us. by last night she was already using the leg a little bit but she still doesnt want to put much weight on it. now we just have to wait and see, and keep her little wound clean so she doesnt make things worse with an infection!

 

[CMV]

Leg injuries are very common. I would not have separated her for that. They generally heal on their own with no intervention. The real trick is going to be how to re-introduce a single bird back into the existing flock without her getting rejected and beaten to death. I would put her back in ASAP before she is forgotten by her family. Once she is forgotten you are going to have a very tough time of it.

Good luck.

 

[chshafer]

i have a feeling that hen would accept anything small i tried to put under her. i really wanted her to rest that leg a while which i doubt she would have done out in the coop. but today she is moving around pretty well so i took her back out to her family. everyone seemed glad to be back together. I will have to keep that in mind though...i tend to forget how nasty they can be to each other at times.

 

[CMV]

I made that mistake about a month back. It is fresh in my mind how vicious broody hens can be to a baby that is rejected.

I am glad to hear that your tale had a happier ending than mine. Good luck with them.