the poppster
Songster
As long as he's eating and drinking, keep an eye on him and let him be....he's probably fine...they are tough and delicate at the same time. I spend a few minutes each day to check over my birds for any problems...usually just sit or stand back and watch them...also I take a once around the run....to check for any stuff they could get into trouble with...I used to be owned by a sweet little dappled gray Arab mare...we used to make a daily inspection of the barn, paddock and any areas that the horses lived in....we had a saying that can be applied to chickens as well!!! "If it can cause a problem...they will find it!!!" Wire, string, loose fencing, nails, you name it!!! If it could entangle, stab, engulf....what ever eventually someone will!!! So I've found that it's easier to eliminate the problem before it becomes a problem....I left a box in the run one day, not unusual....how can an open top box hurt anyone? Well, I closed them in after I got home from work....it was getting dark early that time of the year...picked the eggs and was walking past the run on my way to the house, when I thought I heard a sound...stepping closer to the coop run, I paused to listen...I heard it again. I set my stuff down and entered the run...all was quite?? Just as I was turning to leave, I heard it again!!! Coming from the over turned box...I flipped it upright to find a little gray pullet under it...poor little girl was exhausted from her struggles to get out from under her "Prison" and it appears that she had just about given up...you see, I didn't know how long she had been under there! I worked 12 hour shift work...and between the time I left for work and the time I got home was about 14 hrs...that poor girl could have been under that box all day! Without water! Luckily the weather hadn't been extremely hot or cold...but if it had been??? So to make a long story shorter...I try to eliminate any "Traps" before they become deadly.
