My hens leg is hurt: green spots and kept curled up

[SongnDance]

I have three chickens, they eat organically and get out everyday. No antibiotics.
She won't walk on her leg at all. She keeps it curled up. Some scabby spots, many green spots...I guess are bruises. I have her kept inside the house on a blanket and changing her newspaper. She is feeding and drinking. She can move her toes, yet cringes when holding her leg too much, and I can't seem to get her to stretch it out. Any ideas? Thanks peeps!

 

[azygous]

It appears to me that something might have chomped down on her foot or she got it caught in some wire fencing and tried to yank it loose. It's severely injured and she's obviously in pain.

The green is indeed bruising, and the black spots are probably old blood. It doesn't appear to be swollen so maybe the bones aren't broken. Does her foot look exactly like the uninjured one except for the bruising?

I don't think there's anything you can do except keep her someplace where she can heal without the others picking on her. Make sure she eats and drinks. If you see any sign of infection, you need to give her a round of antibiotics. If the foot is as cool as the other one, it's probably not infected.

 

[Eggcessive]

I agree that it is bruising, and she may have sprained or broken the foot. Resting the legs, maybe giving an anti-inflammatory drug such as meloxacam or aspirin (baby aspirin 1 twice a day) would help. After a few days, a chicken sling might be good to get her up. Pictures of some are below:

 

[SongnDance]

Thanks for your help.

Please tell me what you think, how can I tell if her toes are broken, she does move them. And if it is broken, what do I do? A splint wouldn't work for the foot, however the hammock idea does look good, as to keep pressure off and let it heel.

Also, she seems to be panting somewhat, well her mouth is open and she is breathing heavily. But maybe she is complaining about the comfrey tea I gave her, and a bit of algae oil.

Again thanks for your time and help with my chicky.

Im heading to the store to get some childrens aspirin

 

[nab58]

If she stops the panting after the aspirin, you'll know it was caused by pain. Hope she gets better.

 

[SongnDance]

The green mostly gone now, and she is doing better. Yesterday we gave her a hammock. We built it inside a small stand/table. She was in it for 1 hour before she flapped her wings crazily to get out. I wondered if she was ready for the hammock. I waited till today to put her in it again. And tied it around her a bit.

And as you can see in the picture I added some cushion for her to rest the hurt foot. I thought this may help because her foot shakes as it is curled up hanging there. It looks as if it is well resting there. I would like an opinion on this. Also, when she relaxed some, her other foot seems to want to rest on it too. I am realizing now that she hasnt been up on one foot and hopping, because the other foot is hurt as well. I put the cushion in a place so that the one foot can come down to stand if she pleases, or rest slightly on the cushion.

I might scoot the cushion over and let her rest both and just take it out sometimes to see if she wants to stand on it.
Thanks everyone, by the way, for your suggestions, they have been very useful.

 

[SongnDance]

She only stayed in hammock for a whole day, I guess I could have tied her down tighter. She is doing much better. She is hopping on the one foot and moving around a bit in a square foot. I have a question: the back part of the foot, the littlest claw, it looks as if it may be broken, any ideas as to what to do? Hammock again, splint?

thanks

 

[SongnDance]

Ok, here is my update. Its been about three weeks now since she hurt her leg. We kept her inside and cared for her each day, a week ago she started jumping on the chair arm and roosting. I believe this helped the back digit of her foot heal better. It looks like a long process though, and I hope it heals all right still because yesterday we put her back with her two sisters. At first it was hard to see the pecking order happen to her so roughly, and her back digit still not doing so well. But she has joined the others in the coop and sleeping up on the roost beside them. Thanks Backyard Chickens!

ps we did not use hammock again, she didnt like it much, and we never tried a splint

 

[Eggcessive]

Thank you for the update, and I'm glad that she is back with her flock. Good luck with her recovery.