Cade S
Chirping
Apologies for the duplicate thread, I've read each post that I could get my hands on on the topic and didn't necessarily felt like they matched our situation enough. I will also apologize in advance if I get terms wrong, I've pulled up a photo of chicken anatomy to try to make this as clear as possible, but let me know if there is a better word/term to use.
Patient: 17 week old light brahma, hen
Physical Attributes: she has always been the runt but within the last 5 ish weeks, she's caught up and is only slightly shorter than the rest of the hens.
Behavior, typical: active, can hold her own, but typically follows our bigger hens closely especially when the rooster is overzealous in his whooing (they don't put up with it whether he's whooing them or the others).
Behavior, current: more reserved, still eating & drinking, trying to get to food/water dishes; pushes through injury to get to treats, normal foraging behavior (minus scratching/searching out a spot of scratch, just using her head/beak).
Housing: large coop, with roosting ladder, large run with roosting bars and hiding spots (i.e. small sturdy tables they can hide under), well beyond the recommended sq ft per chicken, supervised trips out of run if weather is good.
Current treatment housing: Kept in dog kennel in a quiet,cozy place where I can control the lighting to help simulate sunset/sunrise, updated the floor cover from what is captured in below photos (put old vinyl flooring scraps from coop flooring down and covered with fresh pine shavings).
Symptoms:
Items checked/symptoms checked for:
Link to videos from last night and today
Dropbox link to Chicken folder
My questions:
Patient: 17 week old light brahma, hen
Physical Attributes: she has always been the runt but within the last 5 ish weeks, she's caught up and is only slightly shorter than the rest of the hens.
Behavior, typical: active, can hold her own, but typically follows our bigger hens closely especially when the rooster is overzealous in his whooing (they don't put up with it whether he's whooing them or the others).
Behavior, current: more reserved, still eating & drinking, trying to get to food/water dishes; pushes through injury to get to treats, normal foraging behavior (minus scratching/searching out a spot of scratch, just using her head/beak).
Housing: large coop, with roosting ladder, large run with roosting bars and hiding spots (i.e. small sturdy tables they can hide under), well beyond the recommended sq ft per chicken, supervised trips out of run if weather is good.
Current treatment housing: Kept in dog kennel in a quiet,cozy place where I can control the lighting to help simulate sunset/sunrise, updated the floor cover from what is captured in below photos (put old vinyl flooring scraps from coop flooring down and covered with fresh pine shavings).
Symptoms:
- not putting weight on right leg, hopping to get around.
- She will either sit or she's standing on her good leg with the bad one pulled up curled under her.
- Bad leg is skinner than good leg, but just barely enough to realize with your hand.
- Bad ankle joint is a bit more swollen, but not warm/inflamed.
- She pulls her leg to her when I touch her ankle joint and tarsometatarsus. I can move her leg without her fighting it, trying to take her leg away, but she doesn't enjoy it (not that I blame her).
- She seems to be standing oddly on her hurt leg.
- The photos and videos I've linked below don't seem to do it justice, but it looks like the ankle is more centered under her body, while the foot is more pointed out.
Items checked/symptoms checked for:
- No obvious wounds, punctures, splinters, etc., and she tolerated a shallow epsom salt bath for her leg.
- No paralysis.
- Not using wing(s) to balance. Foot and toes don't seem to be bothering her and she will wrap her toes around my fingers.
- Comb/wattles are healthy color now that she's been brought in and being provided water and food within her reach.
- She's not as defensive or "crying" anymore.
- Feces are normal after the first two hours of her being in the house.
- She's been examined for indicators of illness/mites/lice/etc. and I think this is purely a physical injury.
Link to videos from last night and today
Dropbox link to Chicken folder
My questions:
- What potentially is her issue and how should I continue treating her? I've got the tools to splint or wrap her legs snug, but not sure what direction to head in to get her on the path to healing.
- How should I make her more comfortable?
- At what point do I need to start considering humanely dispatching a physical injury?
- Are there any indicators I should be looking for to make sure she doesn't take a turn for the worse?