Pullet limping

[apryl29]

I wish I'd known about it too. We've done quite a bit of chicken chasing in the past 3 months. They do come running if I shake the feed scoop, or see us walking out w/ a bag/ bucket. At night I've gotten to the point where I just wait until it starts to get dark and they start making their way back, then just walking behind them guides them into the coop. I'm loving the shorter days b/c now they're back in the coop by 7 instead of waiting until 9 or later for them to be ready to go to bed. My kid would love having them trained to come to them.

I stuck my pullet outside last night w/ the others while they were free ranging. She was walking better, but when it was time to go in she was having trouble getting up to roost. I stuck her in one of the nesting boxes and she tried to perch on the edge, but seemed to have some trouble balancing. I just left her to figure it out on her own. She seemed to be doing better after having some rest so hopefully everything will be ok now. Thanks again for all your help.

 

[azygous]

Coincidentally, I have a little hen who lacerated her foot this last week, and she's still not wanting to put weight on it. Probably what happened with both our girls is they had a mishap that strained a tendon at the same time they got the visible injury. Time should heal both. I'm going to offer mine aspirin today and see if that helps. It knocks down pain while reducing inflammation.

 

[apryl29]

Aww. Hopefully your girl gets better soon. These chickens, I tell ya. I feel like there should be a PSA about crazy chicken issues. I was reading another post and the person said their chicken was eating, drinking, etc.. and when they picked it up it was wet.. their crop had gotten torn open and everything was falling out & obviously they had to put it down... Then I start thinking, my chickens are ok.. my problems are nothing, they're like kids and they get hurt & as long as everything is still inside them they'll be ok..

I do need to get some aspirin. I always gave my kids tylenol or ibuprofen so I don't have any lying around. I'm constantly adding to my chicken medical kit.

 

[azygous]

You should see my chicken supplies. They far outnumber my own.

That's unfortunate the person euthanized their chicken with the torn crop without attempting to repair it. If that ever happens to one of yours, you can empty the crop, flush it with saline, then use super glue to repair the lacerations, first on the tear on the inner skin, then glue the outer skin. Withhold food and water for a few hours and the chicken should be good to go.

 

[apryl29]

I'm the same way. For me I have a couple bottles of aleve and some cold meds.. the chickens have a growing supply that I need to get a more suitable container for, but some of it is super expensive. The vetericyn was $23 (w tax)! IDK how people get the idea that they'll ever make $$ off chickens.
I was thinking the same thing, except I probably would have tried to sew it. Super glue would probably work much better (provided I don't glue my hands to the chicken). We had an iguana once that got into a box fan through a broken screen and got a cut on it's side. My dad and brother used a needle and thread to sew it closed and it live for many more years. I had a cat who got bit by something and it literally had a huge hole in his leg where you could see the muscle. He kept licking it and it looked like hamburger. I got some NFZ puffer stuff from the vet. Puffed it on it every day and it started to heal, skin grew right back together. Had another cat got hit by a car and thought he was done for, broken leg dragging behind him. Couldn't catch him to take him to the vet, but a few weeks later he was fine. It's amazing how resilient animals are.