My chicken suddenly stopped using its leg..

[CrazyChickenLadyAmy]

I don’t believe it was injured. They stay in a 12 x 12 covered coop. She seems otherwise ok. She layed her egg yesterday, and seems to be eating drinking okay. I have 2 red sexlinks that are grown and layers (she being one of them) that I have had since last May. We did get some baby chicks from rural king that are a few months old now, so we let them out in the coop several weeks ago. The little ones are scared of the bigs so they pretty much keep their distance. Not sure if overcrowding would be an issue with only 5 littles and 2 bigs in suck a large coop area. There are 10 nesting boxes, but the littles are too scared to use them as they pretty much perch on top of the dog cage that I use to keep them in before we joined them. I don’t see any physical injuries to the foot/leg. Maybe some swelling, but not severe. She doesn’t seem to cry out when I touch/move it. She will not use it though, she hops and uses her wing to compensate. I have been letting her out to lay her egg (she didn’t lay in the dog pen yesterday, I put her in the coupe for a bit and she layed, then I put her back in the dog crate as the other big one walks around pecking her). Anyone have any clue what’s going on?

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. It does look a bit swollen. She could have injured it jumping. You could try confining her with food and water to force her to rest the leg. But in such a small area that may not be necessary. Do they roost or stay in the cage? You could give her a baby aspirin in the back of her throat twice a day for pain and inflammation.

 

[CrazyChickenLadyAmy]

The cage (small dog crate) was originally set up for the babies before they were big enough to be able to share a pen with the bigger two). I’m currently using it to keep her separated from the rest (with food and water) so she can rest her leg. She has been in there for 2 days now. Other than the crate was only being used for the little ones to perch on at night. I will try some baby aspirin, thanks for the suggestion. She layed yesterday when I let her out and put her in the coupe, (she doesn’t seem to want to lay in the crate). She is still eating, drinking, and laying. I did notice a single drop of blood that came out when she layed today though. Not sure if that’s something to be concerned about, or if it has something to do with her laying in the evening vs the morning like normal.

 

[mew317]

Have you checked for BumbleFoot? If it’s just her leg then it’s something I don’t know. Sorry.