Last week we had a break in to our back yard, some unknown animal ended up carrying off what we thought was 2 of our young Australorp hens. I looked all over for both of the girls, calling for them and searching everywhere I could possibly think. (The 'lorps have also been especially broody lately, so I checked all of the usual spots) All with no luck though. I finally gave up and decided that the score was Dogs/Random Pest: 2 and me: 0. There's a discarded piece of plywood that usually just leans against the back of our house that we had leftover from the chicken coop, it had fallen over. I went over to pick it up and was shocked to find one of the Australorps squished flat underneath it!
My first thought is that she was dead, she was all sprawled out and was making no noises. But when I went to pick her up she start flapping. She couldn't stand and just kept wabbling over and falling down. I felt horrible! I don't know if she was trying to run from whatever was chasing her and the board ended up falling on her or what, but jeez! I took her inside and put her in a box with fresh water and plenty of food and some cherry tomatoes to snack on. Luckily she didn't seem to be in too much shock. She ate and drank like she hadn't ever been fed before. Over the weekend she eventually started to put weight on her leg and is actually standing and walking, or waddling around now. Her walk now is more like a duck than a chicken.
But I'm worried because she hasn't layed an egg since last Thursday. Could there possibly be something wrong internally? I thought it was her leg originally that was broken, but now I'm starting to wonder if it's not her hip or something else. Could an egg possibly be stuck inside of her if it were her hip bone? Do chickens even have hip bones? She's one of my sweetest hens and I'd hate to loose or, or have her suffer.
Thanks to anybody who replies.
My first thought is that she was dead, she was all sprawled out and was making no noises. But when I went to pick her up she start flapping. She couldn't stand and just kept wabbling over and falling down. I felt horrible! I don't know if she was trying to run from whatever was chasing her and the board ended up falling on her or what, but jeez! I took her inside and put her in a box with fresh water and plenty of food and some cherry tomatoes to snack on. Luckily she didn't seem to be in too much shock. She ate and drank like she hadn't ever been fed before. Over the weekend she eventually started to put weight on her leg and is actually standing and walking, or waddling around now. Her walk now is more like a duck than a chicken.
But I'm worried because she hasn't layed an egg since last Thursday. Could there possibly be something wrong internally? I thought it was her leg originally that was broken, but now I'm starting to wonder if it's not her hip or something else. Could an egg possibly be stuck inside of her if it were her hip bone? Do chickens even have hip bones? She's one of my sweetest hens and I'd hate to loose or, or have her suffer.
Thanks to anybody who replies.
