I had two lame GSL girls Lulu and Lucy who were born the end of June. I don't know how they got lame because we didn't notice any limps when the girls were young. They were part of a flock of 31 GSL that we got as day-olds.
During the summer, we noticed that Lulu and Lucy limped and were noticably smaller and weaker than the others. We built them a little run of their own and feed them extras to fatten them up as well as vitamins, etc. Both of them improved and got stronger.
We put them with the other girls and they seemed to do fine. Lucy barely limped at all and put on weight and started looking more normal. Lulu, on the other hand was still scrawny and limped and stayed by herself. She just hid under the trees alone.
We decided to remove Lulu from the flock when we saw other chickens picking on her and not letting her near the waterer or food. We have a box for her to sleep in the garage and she spent most of the winter in the house. She had a blanket and basket in the corner of the kitchen where she stayed most of the time. We fed her extra food, treats, warm meals, etc. and she started looking better. She started walking around more and her limp was less noticeable. She walks funny because she lifts her feet high or else she steps on her toes and stumbles.
When the weather was nicer we would let Lulu outside in the front yard away from the others. She enjoyed wandering around eating, etc. and would hop/fly/jump up the back stairs when she wanted back in the house.
One day after the other chickens started laying, I just got a feeling that Lulu was getting ready to lay because she was acting different. We made her a nestbox and put it in the closet. She did lay an egg that day much to our excitement. Since then she has been laying 4 - 5 eggs a week.
She has been staying outside almost all day but comes back in to lay her egg. We leave the gate open so she can go in the back yard or the front. She started hanging around the chicken run so we have been letting her in with the others. So far, we have not been too successful with intergration as she gets picked on by everyone. She says for awhile, then we take her out before she gets hurt. She seems happy wandering on her own and she is friendly and talkative to us but she also wants in with the big girls. We will keep trying as it would be easier to have them all together.
She is a real sweetie and we feel blessed to have her in our family. We have had many laughs and lots of affection from out little Lulu.
