Roo too big for hens?

[valley ranch]

Greetings, We have two hens that are limping. One hen about a month back had a broken leg. We checked and fixed places where they could get a leg caught. Could it be that our Cochin Roo is too large for our Leghorn hens. He is pretty good sized but didn't seem that heavy. What's your thought.

Richard

 

[FuzzyButtsFarm]

I don't know I have a big BO roo. My 2 smallest hens are a leghorn and a strunted red star ( previous owner just free ranged with no added feed ) and they don't seem to be having a problem.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I see you have mini horses, could they have gotten stepped on?

 

[valley ranch]

No the horses are kept seperate to the chickens as are the goats and the dog!! The chickens are totally isolated from all our other animals.

 

[tinychicky]

are they getting enough protien and calcium? their bones might be brittle and breakable.

 

[valley ranch]

We feed them Flock Builder, Scratch and Fortified Grit. I don't think that is the problem.

There is a small gap between the wall and their nesting boxes, I'll fix that tomorrow.

 

[rooster lover 119]

yes i agree. try giving them scrambled eggs or yogurt as a treat every once in a while.

 

[valley ranch]

Wifey has a theory: The chickens haven't been in sunlight for some time due to the deep snow, overcast days and the fact their stall in the barn gets no direct sun this time of year. No sun no Vitamin D. No Vitamin D and they cannot take up Calcium.
That would support your mention of Calcium deficiency. You mentioned also Modzoon [yogurt] Modzoon contains a bit of D.

while the sun was up the girls brought them into the front stall for sun and we will lace their water with Cod Liver Oil.

 

[Miss Lydia]

also oyster shell is a great source of calcium and if you feed it in a separate bowl from the feed they will just use as needed.. and I think wifey might be on to something, we live on the north side of the mtn. which means from Nov. to end of feb. we get very little sunshine, so to counter that I take calcium and vit D3. gotta take care of them bones..

 

[valley ranch]

The Grit we use has calcium, I believe in the form of crushed Oyster Shells.