possible broken leg or ??

[ki4got]

I've got a silver grey dorking pullet, about 12 weeks old, that's been free ranging with everyone else now since about 3 weeks old. Day before yesterday she was fine, running around with everyone, being her normal self. her hatchmates consist of 4 bantam cochins, another sg dorking and a barred rock (all pullets). I noticed when i shut the coop door for the night that *FINALLY* they had stopped sleeping in one of the nests. the cochins and barred rock were up on the poop shelf and she was on the floor with the other dorking. nothing seemed wrong, so i put them to bed as usual.

the next morning i opened the coop to let everyone out, didn't poke my head in the door for fear of being smacked in the face by the 'exodus' that occurs each morning. LOL. but then i heard a horrible racket as one of my bantam cochins decided to 'breed' this poor little girl as she struggled across the driveway, using only 1 leg. picking her up i noticed one leg very blue-green and hot to the touch, the other is fine. I can't seem to find any obvious signs of a break, but it's very swollen and has a bright blue-green tinge under the skin. she's confined to a small travel cage, inside the coop with food and water, and a raised floor to stay clean. I did notice a couple small cuts on the top of her foot, but it doesn't look like a bite to me. she's eating and drinking fine from what I can tell, and is moving around the cage some.

What i'm wondering is, does this sound like a broken/damaged leg? or is it possibly something worse? and is it likely to heal on it's own?

i'll cull her if i have to, but she and her 'sister' are the only 2 i have left from a test breeding with a new roo at the moment, and would like to have more than just 1 pullet to gauge my decisions on...

 

[leadwolf1]

Could she have suffered a snake or spider bite? The only other thing I can think is that she got her leg stuck somewhere and damaged it trying to escape. Do you have a vet nearby that treats chickens? I would say a trip would be warranted..maybe even some xrays!

 

[willowbranchfarm]

Sounds like a leg injury. Do you know of a vet you can call for advice or can you take your chicken to a vet??

 

[ki4got]

thanks, i was hoping it sounded more like a leg injury than infection.

unfortunately finances won't allow a trip to the vet for a chicken. the macaw, dogs, cats, horses or hubby, yeah i might take them to the vet.

but i just can't swing that for a chicken. these birds aren't pets, so if she doesn't heal or gets worse, I'll cull her. but for now she's comfortable, tho i did have to do some fluff trim. she had one heck of a lump under her vent, from not being able to stand.

 

[willowbranchfarm]

Totally understand. Good luck. I hope she gets better.

 

[ki4got]

looking at it now, after some of the swelling and bruising went down, i'd say looks like she got her foot stuck somewhere, or possibly bit by a critter. but since it happenned in broad daylight with the dogs roaming, i'm hesitant to say it's a bite.

and yes, she's supposed to have 5 toes. 8)

she's standing on the one leg more. caught her propping herself up using the food dish and the one leg earlier. LOL food dish = peg leg?

 

[StarLover21]

I'm not sure what caused it, but it looks like she'll be fine