Sorry that this is long, but I think I need guidance or advice again. I posted in another section about this and was told things I probably needed to hear, but got some nastygram messages and responses that I wasnt really comfortable with, so Im trying this forum because everyone seems friendlier and way more helpful with "emergencies". In the past 2 weeks I lost two roosters and a hen that I wasnt expecting to loose, and Im not sure that Marsala's death was truly a result of her wounds. In my past 20 months as a chicken mom Ive conquered lice, mites, respiratory cooties, frostbite, heatstroke and the experience of putting a chicken's crop back on the inside of her. I adopted 12 battery hens and nursed them to health (but did lose a few), and everyone was doing great until my hen and roos (not from the battery bunch) were suddenly and unexpectedly found deceased. Ive had the roosters just over a year, and the hen was just 9 months old and from a reputable breeder (I got 7 pulletts and 1 cockerel hatched in March and I got them in May). The boys came from a family that lost their henhouse to a tornado so Im not 100% sure of their age. Someone suggested necropsies, but one rooster already had survived frostbite last winter and the other was blind after surviving a respiratory illness last Spring, so I cant see spending money to find out why they died when I was lucky they were still alive to start with. My hen totally baffles me though, and now Ive become a bit paranoid.
So now (rambling part over) I have a 9mo old Wyandotte, from the same egg batch as the deceased hen, named Cookie that was potentially attacked by the same critter that attacked Marsala. She had a portruding bone under her right wing that I cared for and she has seemed to heal fine, but recently she has started hopping on one leg with her bad right leg extended, not retracted, and she has been sleeping on the floor of the henhouse instead of roosting on top of the indoor coop, where she usually was. My only surviving Rooster, Pancake, (also from the same egg batch as the deceased hen and the hopper) has been cuddling with her at night and Im worried that something is wrong with him, too.
Cookie (the hen) doesn't seem to have any visible wounds on her foot but her right ankle looks swolen to me. She's eating fine and her poop is normal, but she hops around all day and has been sleeping on Pancake's (the rooster) head every night. Pancake is now the only roo and very majestic. He used to sleep in the highest perch or on top of the coop, and now he sleeps on the floor huddled up with Cookie. Still eating, normal poop, pecking at the hens if they get between him and his treats - all normal during the day but night time has me weirded out. Im attaching some pictures of Cookie's foot to see what you guys think. Maybe when her wing was broken she fell from the top of the coop and thats why she stays on the ground? And Pancake, as her "sibling" is there to protect her? As usual, I dont have anyone else to ask but I am nervous and don't want to lose them, too, so thanks in advance for reading this far and putting up with my questions.
So now (rambling part over) I have a 9mo old Wyandotte, from the same egg batch as the deceased hen, named Cookie that was potentially attacked by the same critter that attacked Marsala. She had a portruding bone under her right wing that I cared for and she has seemed to heal fine, but recently she has started hopping on one leg with her bad right leg extended, not retracted, and she has been sleeping on the floor of the henhouse instead of roosting on top of the indoor coop, where she usually was. My only surviving Rooster, Pancake, (also from the same egg batch as the deceased hen and the hopper) has been cuddling with her at night and Im worried that something is wrong with him, too.
Cookie (the hen) doesn't seem to have any visible wounds on her foot but her right ankle looks swolen to me. She's eating fine and her poop is normal, but she hops around all day and has been sleeping on Pancake's (the rooster) head every night. Pancake is now the only roo and very majestic. He used to sleep in the highest perch or on top of the coop, and now he sleeps on the floor huddled up with Cookie. Still eating, normal poop, pecking at the hens if they get between him and his treats - all normal during the day but night time has me weirded out. Im attaching some pictures of Cookie's foot to see what you guys think. Maybe when her wing was broken she fell from the top of the coop and thats why she stays on the ground? And Pancake, as her "sibling" is there to protect her? As usual, I dont have anyone else to ask but I am nervous and don't want to lose them, too, so thanks in advance for reading this far and putting up with my questions.
