lame chicken

[mum21andtwins]

This morning all chickens where fineI got back from the market around 12 and found her lying in the mud unable to get up properly. she tries hard and will be able to take a couple of steps before her left leg gives out.
There are no wounds or bruises no sign of scaly leg not freezing here.
Her colour is normal she is eating drinking and her droppings are normal its just the leg.
She appears comfertable and not in pain. She's just turned a year old.
I get therir feed from a place that has a high turnover and they get it straight from the producer.


Kind think of anything I should add. I woner if she has somehow hurt her leg as that afaik is the only other thing left. if she has what do I do?
Vet suggests the chop and I am not convinced that is the only/best route

Any ideas or suggestions most welcome!

[Chicky2]

I'd probably give her a day or two, inside or secluded from the other chickens. We have had chickens in one of our bathtubs before, lol.

[mum21andtwins]

Thanks,
I have her in our spare coop at the moment. she seemed better this evening.

[Chicky2]

How is your chicken?

[mum21andtwins]

I'm not sure. She is still perky and eating on her own but the leg is not the way it should be. I have alos had the worst 48hrs in my life. my hoover broke my boiler broke I have a leak in the kitchen and one in the bathroom. my mum is in hospital recieving life extending chemo and twin1 slammed the door on twin2's fingers this week tips came of and they require a lot of extra care. So I have not been able to spend as much time with her as I would have liked.
She must be walking (limping??) around quite a bit though because when I checked her before dark her crop was full and she had poo'd on one side of the coop and was lying on the other side of the poop and food (the coop is 4 by 3 foot ish). hubby is home tomorrow and he actually is a bit of a chicken whisperer. he reckons she will be fine. He told me a story of a chook they had when he was still at home als with a sprained leg and it took nearly a week for her to start walking again.

Thanks for asking!!

[GoBecGo]

She's a lucky girl, i'm pretty sure my mother would have served her for dinner!

I was going to ask about dislocation of a hip - i can't remember all the details (i was 7), but one of our hens got a leg caught in the fence and flapped away and in doing so dislocated the hip (they have free hip joints, but she'd torn the ligaments or something...?). She healed eventually though it took a fair few weeks - we didn't eat her because she was a stellar layer still.

[mum21andtwins]

OMG that would make sense so she recovered? do you remember if something was done for her?

Her legplacement looks normal to me and watching her hop whilst it was obvious it wasn't what she wanted to do she seemed to place her leg normally.

Thanks for posting that!!

[GoBecGo]

Definitely nothing was done for her. Our hens were never pets, so if they were ill or injured i'm afraid we didn't keep them, unless there was something they'd likely recover from and weren't suffering in the meantime, or it was something they'd recover from with a cheap, simple treatment (we didn't even have a hen coop, they lived free range or "wild" around our farm buildings, and we just got to know all their favourite laying spots - they actually barely every got sick or hurt, and we only lost one to a fox in 4.5 years). I think my mother picked her up and checked her over and called the vet and he probably dx on the phone because she had seen her injury occurring. I DO remember her being kept in a little fenced run for a few days and fed there (we didn't feed our hens much - this sounds terrible now but they were fat healthy hens, they just found plenty of food themselves) until my mother was satisfied she could flap about and eat and escape immediate danger ok. She definitely recovered, but it might have been weeks or months. Unfortunately my mother is dead - i asked my dad and he said "you want me to remember one specific chicken of 22 years ago?" - fair point i suppose!

[mum21andtwins]

Yolko didn't make it. she suddeny stopped eating and was obviously in pain. Hubby helped her to chookheaven.

I'm going to find a big bar of chocolate curl up on the sofa and cry for awhile I think

[Ms. B. Sprout]

[GoBecGo]

Aw, i'm sorry You guys did a lot more for her than many would have, she was a well-loved chicky.