One legged chicken

[akcharlie1960]

Had a predator raid the coop last Fri. night and mangled a 3 month old's leg. Vet amputated the leg Sat. afternoon and the chicken is home recovering nicely. Does anyone have any experience with one legged chickens? The vet says she should have a full recovery and live an almost normal life. (about 10 years) She is in good spirits and feeding and drinking good. We would appreciate any comments and/or advice.

 

[Afrochicken]

i had a chicken with a broken leg that healed but she was hopping around on one foot, so im pretty sure that your chick will be fine good luck to you and your chickens!!!

 

[dawg53]

I have a crippled hen that hobbles around on one leg and does just fine. She lays an egg just about every day.

 

[mmaddie's mom]

I'm thinkin' that it might depend on how big a bird she is going to be?

 

[akcharlie1960]

She's a gold laced wyandotte. Should top out around 4 1/2 lbs. Can one legged chickens forage ok? Her and her coop mates (2 others) get chicken feed every night but free range the yard every afternoon and all weekend long. Scratchings out. Thanks for your input.

 

[akcharlie1960]

We put Wynonna in the tractor with her coopmates for just a few minutes yesterday and one of them started pecking at her head right off the get go. The other two have gotten a little bigger and Wynonna has lost some weight in the last 4 days but when she catches up (which I will surley make that happen) will the harrassment stop? I'd hate to have to go in there and spank some chicken ass. Not really. But can you stop the pecking or just ride it out and see what happens? We're really dissapointed in the pecker cause before the incident they all got along great. Thanks for any answers.

 

[VioletandBodie]

i have a one legged zebra finch but i dont think i could be of any help,but i could help give you ideals.
most likly she will not be a the bottom of the "pack" beacuse she is a "criple" thats how bob is. cheack her daily to mack shere she is not getting bullied (she probily will be). with bob he had 5 days to him self with his girlfriend aloud to say hello the at dy 6 she was let in with him till he was rejioned with the flock having a friend is really helpfull so if she has a budie let them recoop together in a little pen by themselves, i dont know if you can but i would try and mack her a sling walker it alows the animal in qeston to use the good leg(s) to move them around but dose not keep all there wait on it. so thats what i have to offer

 

[ruth]

I had a chicken that was hatched with a deformed leg which got worse as she got older. She never could use it and eventually it stuck out straight or over her head and got hung up in everything. I eventualy amputated above the hock. She did great with the surgery, healed well/quickly and go along much better by hopping on the one good leg she had always used. The sad part, about her story, is she eventually got a very bad, deep cut on bottom of foot under two toes and it developed into a bad infection that woudn't heal and kept spreading up her leg. When she could no longer get around, we put her down.

I also have a rooster right now that has been missing a foot for over a year. Gets along great.

So, yes they can get around with only one leg.

Also, there will always be a little "pecking order" taking place when you put a bird back with the flock. The less time they are away the better. I would just watch and make sure it doesn't get out of hand but normally it runs its course very quickly.

 

[DaniLovesChickens]

I had a chicken with a broken leg. We put her in a dog crate but put the crate in with the other chickens. We placed it so that she could get away if anyone started to attack her (we had about 35 chickens at the time). We also put a towel on top of the cage so no one pooped on her.

She had to be in there for a couple of weeks to heal. It was a really bad break. When we let her out there was some pecking order issues, but nothing horrible. I just kept my eye on her. I let her out for a couple hours at a time to start and slowly increased the amount of time she was out. This helped all of them adjust but also helped Louise's leg gain some of it's strength back. You do need to take that in to consideration as well.

Good luck!

 

[Lorije1]

I would think she should do fine. I am working with an almost one legged (stump of a foot left) rooster who was about 13lbs when I got him. He is really getting more mobile.

Let her rest and keep her in a calm quiet place for a while, then ease her out in a kennel or stay with her while she sees other chickens through the fence. She will need to master her new 1 legged lifestyle before having to duke it out with grumpy hens.