question when isolating a sick or injured chicken

[awagnon]

Hi everyone. I currently have a hen that has been suffering from some sort of injury to her foot/leg/hip.

I have resigned myself to having to have her inside the house, in a medium sized wire crate because that is the only place she will stay relatively calm and rest. If she sees her sisters, she just goes nuts and paces relentlessly and I need her to stay off that foot/leg.

My question is how do y'all deal with the poo situation when you have to do this with a chicken?? I have towels covered with puppy pads on the bottom for her currently, but when she poops, she walks in it and gets it all over her feet which isn't good as I don't want her to develop bumblefoot from the unsanitary conditions. She doesn't like to have her feet cleaned a million times a day. lol I am staying home every day and every time I see her poo, I either remove it or cover it up with another pad or paper towels to keep it from getting all over her. Needless to say, this is EXHAUSTING! lol Is there a better way to deal with this issue to keep her crate and her relatively clean??

It doesn't help that this girl is the one that is a 'look but don't EVEN think about touching me' kinda hen. I think she's starting to get over that with all the handling of her I have had to do recently. lol

 

[BDutch]

You could try to clean once more and apply second skin bandage or recovery derm shield.
It is breathable, you don't have to remove it and the bandage prevents dirt coming in. It only works if the hen isn't pecking it off.

 

[awagnon]

You could try to clean once more and apply second skin bandage or recovery derm shield.
It is breathable, you don't have to remove it and the bandage prevents dirt coming in. It only works if the hen isn't pecking it off.

I am not worried about keeping a wound clean, I am wondering how people who have their chickens in a crate keep the crate and the chicken relatively 'clean'. I may be just wishful thinking.....sigh.

 

[Mrs. K]

What is wrong with the leg? Were they attacking her in the flock? Because if not, I would put her back with the flock. She is outside, she is in familiar setting, just make sure she has shade, water, and feed close by. If she can get around at all, and if she is pacing, she can get around, she is doing better than you think.

People don't always know best about animals. I am not quite sure why you think she should stay off the leg. The best is just to put water and feed close to her. Let her make the decisions on whether or not she should rest.

Granted I am not there, have not seen the bird, and there might be sufficient reason that keeping her separate is most important.
Mrs K

 

[awagnon]

What is wrong with the leg? Were they attacking her in the flock? Because if not, I would put her back with the flock. She is outside, she is in familiar setting, just make sure she has shade, water, and feed close by. If she can get around at all, and if she is pacing, she can get around, she is doing better than you think.

People don't always know best about animals. I am not quite sure why you think she should stay off the leg. The best is just to put water and feed close to her. Let her make the decisions on whether or not she should rest.

Granted I am not there, have not seen the bird, and there might be sufficient reason that keeping her separate is most important.
Mrs K

She's quite relaxed inside in her crate as long as she doesn't see her sisters. It's when she sees them, she paces/limps/hops.

I really don't know what is wrong with her leg/ankle/foot. She doesn't have any visible injuries. Just one day about a week and a half ago, when I went out to close up their outside play pen area, she could hardly walk and was severely limping. I brought her in and kept her inside for a few days. Gave her extra calcium, protein, vitamins. She seemed to be better, so I put her back outside with her sisters. A couple of days later, she was back to limping again, not as bad, but still looked pitiful. lol I don't feel any extra play in her knee or hip. Her toes look straight, but I didn't study her feet before this issue. She doesn't have bumblefoot. She eats and drinks well and is alert. Comb/wattles are a good color, no mites or lice that I could find, not losing weight, not molting, eyes are clear and bright. She can stand, but it doesn't look like she puts full weight on that leg. She preens like normal. No trouble smacking me in the face with her wing if she decides she doesn't want to be handled.

I kept an eye on her after releasing her from the first time, and her limp got progressively worse the three days she was out with her flock so I brought her back inside. I have been reading about limping chickens here and it was said to keep them in for 10 days to rest and heal and if they still aren't 100% keep them in another 10 days. One of our trusted, experienced members posted this so that's what I am doing to help her get better.

No one was picking on her at all. In fact, my other hen who is the same breed actually was walking around with her and pecking away other flock members from the feeder once she made it over there. I thought that was pretty amazing.

I may be wishful thinking, but was hoping for an idea on how to keep her poo from getting all over her in the crate as well as cut down on buying a truckload of puppy pads. lol

 

[aart]

I may be wishful thinking, but was hoping for an idea on how to keep her poo from getting all over her in the crate as well as cut down on buying a truckload of puppy pads.

Is it a wire crate?
I have taken the tray out and placed it underneath the crate so most the poop falls out into the tray....but I do have 1x2 mesh on the bottom of the crate.

Pics here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/foldable-wire-dog-crates-a-good-tool-for-every-chickeneer.72619/

 

[awagnon]

Is it a wire crate?
I have taken the tray out and placed it underneath the crate so most the poop falls out into the tray....but I do have 1x2 mesh on the bottom of the crate.

Pics here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/foldable-wire-dog-crates-a-good-tool-for-every-chickeneer.72619/

OMG! Yes it's the same kind of crate you have. THIS is my answer! Thank you so much. Can you tell me where you got the wire mesh and that doesn't bother their feet?

 

[aart]

Can you tell me where you got the wire mesh and that doesn't bother their feet?

Don't remember where, probably the farm store.
It's not real comfortable, bothers some more than others.

 

[awagnon]

Don't remember where, probably the farm store.
It's not real comfortable, bothers some more than others.

Ok. Thank you so much. I actually found a rabbit hutch with 1/2" x 1" mesh on the bottom. I am going to town in the morning to get her one. I think the smaller mesh will be better on her feet and her toes in case she has fractured one somehow. My tray from the dog crate will fit the one I found. Win!

 

[aart]

I actually found a rabbit hutch with 1/2" x 1" mesh on the bottom. I am going to town in the morning to get her one. I think the smaller mesh will be better on her feet and her toes in case she has fractured one somehow.

More likely to get a toe stuck in the smaller mesh....plus the poops won't fall thru as easily if at all.