Need advice please! Chicken's leg is hurt

[Iamgrateful]

Our white leghorn appears to have a leg sprain and is not putting any weight on the leg. I've read that it is best to isolate the hurt chicken and put into a quiet cage or something and not let her roost. The problem is we only have 2 chickens currrently out in the coop (the other two were killed late fall) - is it ok to isolate the hurt chicken and leave the other chicken in the coop alone? Its pretty cold right now at night (20-30 degrees f). It doesn't feel right to leave the other chicken out in the coop all alone. Is it ok to leave the hurt chicken in the coop? She is mostly just sitting on the floor.

Any advice is so appreciated as I am new to this. Thank you!!!

 

[chickensman98]

hi, um that sounds bad but if the chicken that is not injured is bothering the injured chicken i would seperate them but if the chicken is not bothering the injured chicken i think it would be ok for them to be together. i also have white leghorns and we have had interesting times. i hope this post was helpful to you and can you repley and tell me how the chicken is doing

 

[ThreesACharm]

We had a hen with a sprained leg from falling off a perch, and we only had three others -- 1 rooster, 2 hens -- at the time, and I still isolated her at night. During the day, I would allow the injured chicken to join the rest for an hour twice a day, while I supervised, to make sure they didn't pick on her -- if they did (and they did, especially in the beginning), I intervened but didn't remove her. At night, I kept her in a separate cage (basically, a modified rabbit hutch) right next to the main coop, so they could still see and talk to each other, but she wasn't with them. After about 4 weeks, when her leg had started to heal pretty well and she was able to run from the others if they started picking on her, I let her back in the main coop at night, and she ended up recovering just fine. But I think if we hadn't isolated her, even though we also had a small flock at the time, she wouldn't have made it.

I would definitely isolate her if you can at night, for at least the first 2-3 weeks, until she shows signs of improvement and is able to get away from the others if she needs to. Unfortunately, with our hen, the others still picked on her for the rest of her life (she was picked off by a chicken hawk months later because she still had a limp and wasn't quite as fast as the others), but I intervened enough that the others eventually realized if they went after her, momma was gonna go after them.

 

[Iamgrateful]

Our hen put some weight on her hurt leg last night so I think that is a good sign. I decided to keep her in a large cat carrier over night with lots of pine shavings, food and water. I kept the carrier next to where the other chicken roosts. This morning she seemed to be doing quite well so I have decided to let her be out with the other hen during the day and I will keep putting her in the cat carrier each night until her legs gets better. Thank you for your advice, it is much appreciated!