Poor Babs hurt her leg

[Dhkoenig]

This has been a heck of a week in our flock. I was letting my girls free range and a big storm was coming. I was trying to shoo them into the coop but my most skittish hen was running away from me every which way except back in the run. The chase was all over the place and when I finally got her pointed in the direction of the run she was limping and panting. I gave her water and she pecked at a savoy cabbage I had strung up for them. I observed her and she was very subtle in her limp - I could tell but not sure if she was. Then tonight she didn't perch. I opted to let her sleep in the nesting box tonight because I didn't want to add to the injury but making her jump from the perch tomorrow and stand on it all night. I am worried that I made her sprain a muscle and this is not great because she is already the hen that most of them pick on because she is newest. Any suggestions of what I should do for her?

 

[Callender Girl]

How is Babs doing today? Are the others leaving her alone? If not, can you somehow separate her and give her injury a little time to recover? Maybe let the others out and let her rest in the coop?

Best wishes for you and her!

 

[HollyWoozle]

I would also separate her for a while, at least in the daytime. We had a hen with a leg injury which took a few months to heal - we fenced off a small area inside the main chicken run so that she was with the others all day but not chased around. We included a cat carrier so that she had a space to use as a nesting box and didn't fret. Good luck!

 

[Dhkoenig]

aaw Thanks HollyWoozle! This morning she is definitely pretending "oh- nothing wrong here! I'm totally fine and see? I'm eating some dirt!" but you can see the limp there - she is avoiding walking around so they won't notice. They are not picking on her which is great but I think she was worried about that all night because on the cam, which of course I checked like 10 times during the night LOL, she was awake the whole night and panting a bunch of times .

 

[Dhkoenig]

I would also separate her for a while, at least in the daytime. We had a hen with a leg injury which took a few months to heal - we fenced off a small area inside the main chicken run so that she was with the others all day but not chased around. We included a cat carrier so that she had a space to use as a nesting box and didn't fret. Good luck!

Yes I am going to spend a lot of time down there observing today to see how they are treating her. As of this morning they were indifferent, not picking on her or chasing her, but if I start to see it happening I will definitely separate her. I am just worried about calling attention to her because if they already don't really like her, I wonder if separating her might make it worse?? But I 100 percent agree that she needs to heal so if it looks like they are chasing her or bullying her, I will have to. Thanks again so much for your help.

 

[HollyWoozle]

I guess the panting and being awake is from pain, bless her. I would probably discourage her from moving around too much or roosting - did she sleep in the nesting box again?

The benefit of making her a small, separate area is that you can also keep her close to food and water so that she doesn't feel the need to walk around too much. I hope she feels better soon!

 

[Dhkoenig]

She visited the doctor yesterday and hopefully the "mass" they saw on xray behind her egg, was another developing egg and not something growing inside pressing on her nerve. I do think the soft tissue injury is the culprit tho because she was already limping after i was chasing her into the run and then yesterday she jumped up on to the table in their run and stepped on a cardboard plate which tipped over and she fell off (flapped wings to soften the blow) so I think it is just soft tissue injury. So I set up a separate coop/run for her inside our big run but for the next few days I think I am just going to keep her in the crate with soft blankets in our mudroom so she rests it

 

[Kiki]

She visited the doctor yesterday and hopefully the "mass" they saw on xray behind her egg, was another developing egg and not something growing inside pressing on her nerve. I do think the soft tissue injury is the culprit tho because she was already limping after i was chasing her into the run and then yesterday she jumped up on to the table in their run and stepped on a cardboard plate which tipped over and she fell off (flapped wings to soften the blow) so I think it is just soft tissue injury. So I set up a separate coop/run for her inside our big run but for the next few days I think I am just going to keep her in the crate with soft blankets in our mudroom so she rests it

Did the vet mention Marek's disease at all?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She visited the doctor yesterday and hopefully the "mass" they saw on xray behind her egg, was another developing egg and not something growing inside pressing on her nerve. I do think the soft tissue injury is the culprit tho because she was already limping after i was chasing her into the run and then yesterday she jumped up on to the table in their run and stepped on a cardboard plate which tipped over and she fell off (flapped wings to soften the blow) so I think it is just soft tissue injury. So I set up a separate coop/run for her inside our big run but for the next few days I think I am just going to keep her in the crate with soft blankets in our mudroom so she rests it

I would give her extra calcium for several days. 1 tablet Daily.
Sounds like she's having some difficulty passing an egg. Is she still pooping ok?
Chasing around is stressful. Chickens will usually come in when there's a storm or they find a place to hunker down.
Hopefully the limping will start to resolve once she lays her eggs.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would try to separate her inside the coop or run in a wire dog crate with food and water. Try 1/4 tablet daily of crushed human vitamin B complex with all B’s for her leg. Keeping her with the flock in the crate will be easier in the long run. How old is she? Is she eating and drinking?