let my flock out this am, did my chicken chores, went in the house and got dressed for work and on my way out to the car, for some unknown reason I turned around and went to check on the chickens.
you guessed it, there was a reason for that - one of my 8 week old pullets was missing! I searched and searched - it is a very big run - and all of a sudden I saw her! she was hanging upside down by a leg - hung up on a low pine branch and not moving. My heart just stopped!
I went and carefully picked her up, and she was alive - pretty shocky I think. She could not have been hanging there more than 15 minutes - I think she was running from one of the big girls and tripped and the branch, which is just about 12 inches from the ground, held her just up high enough that she couldn't get momentum to get herself upright - sort of the way a toddler can tip into a bucket and not be able to get up on their own.
I held her and moved her legs and wings, didn't seem like anything was broken or not moving right. Placed her on the ground and she didn't move - just huddled. I took her inside, intending to keep her in the coop (thinking, warm and quiet) - while I was getting food and water, she got up and went out the coop door. I let her, and I watched her.
She was moving ok, limping, and going pretty slowly. I debated about keeping her cooped up with a buddy, but trying to get her again was stressing her out as the big girls followed me while I was following her... so I decided to let things be.
Got home tonight and she is fine - it does seem that her "knee" gives out sometimes when she is running, and I noticed she wasn't doing any jumping up on things at all. I'm hoping that in a day or too she'll be recovered.
I am so grateful that I went back and checked !
you guessed it, there was a reason for that - one of my 8 week old pullets was missing! I searched and searched - it is a very big run - and all of a sudden I saw her! she was hanging upside down by a leg - hung up on a low pine branch and not moving. My heart just stopped!
I went and carefully picked her up, and she was alive - pretty shocky I think. She could not have been hanging there more than 15 minutes - I think she was running from one of the big girls and tripped and the branch, which is just about 12 inches from the ground, held her just up high enough that she couldn't get momentum to get herself upright - sort of the way a toddler can tip into a bucket and not be able to get up on their own.
I held her and moved her legs and wings, didn't seem like anything was broken or not moving right. Placed her on the ground and she didn't move - just huddled. I took her inside, intending to keep her in the coop (thinking, warm and quiet) - while I was getting food and water, she got up and went out the coop door. I let her, and I watched her.
She was moving ok, limping, and going pretty slowly. I debated about keeping her cooped up with a buddy, but trying to get her again was stressing her out as the big girls followed me while I was following her... so I decided to let things be.
Got home tonight and she is fine - it does seem that her "knee" gives out sometimes when she is running, and I noticed she wasn't doing any jumping up on things at all. I'm hoping that in a day or too she'll be recovered.
I am so grateful that I went back and checked !
