4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Joanne]

New toChicken keeping and my girls arrived last Friday,

 

Having posted my first message, and feeling very pleased with myself and my girls. I have just found Maisy limping badly, she doesn`t seem to want to put any weight onto her foot. Picked her up and can`t see anything obvvious. Foot feels warm though. or at least I think it is, it`s hard to know as we`ve only had them four days!!

 

Can anyone help? Should I call Omlet, the Vet or just wait and see. Have popped her into the Eglu so she can rest it. Any ideas what may have caused this? Two hours ago she was scratching about like normal!!??

 

Won`t get upat all now.....please help....

[theherd123]

Oh dear poor little girl.

 

If she was acting normally a while ago maybe she has injured it in some way - trapped it, jumped on it heavily, got into a squabble with another chook?

 

You have done the right thing by inspecting her.

When you pick her up if you place one of your fingers underneath her foot do her toes curl round your finger?

If so this is a good sign.

 

If she is in bed now i would leave her there and check how she is in the morning. If she isnt walking i would seperate her from the others as they may pick on her a little and she will not be able to access food or water unless it is within immediate reach. Check again if her foot feels warm/hot.

Bring her indoors and make her comfy with food & water available to her.

Keep a eye on her and if she doesnt improve then a trip to the vet is probably in order as she may have an infection in her foot.

 

Do keep us posted about her progress.

[chelsea]

she may have just twisted it or have a slight sprain.

 

Try not to worry, inspect the leg tomorrow and if there isnt any movement at all then maybe consider calling your vet or even Omlet for advice.

 

If she is moving around but limping that will be a good sign and she has probably only slightly injured it.

 

If you can see any redness or bruising on the leg some Arnica may help with the healing.

 

If she is completely immobile maybe place some food and water near to her as its better she does keep hydrated.

[Egluntyne]

I've had a few limping chickens. Usually because they have kamikazied off the Eglu and landed badly.

 

It has always settled....the longest taking 3 weeks.

 

If she is really reluctant to weight bear, bring her in and let her rest in a box for 24 hours. She will continue to attempt run about with her friends otherwise, and will aggravate the injury. Pop her back in with them at night.

 

I've always found arnica and extra calcium to be effective.

 

Examine her carefully for any signs of a broken bone, such as marked swelling, grating of bone, deformity.

 

If you continue to be concerned, a visit to the vet would be a good idea.

 

Good luck.

[Gallina]

Joanne: I have had a similar experience recently and it was all right in the end. When a hen stands on one leg and hops everywhere it is worrying (but they get awfully good at hopping after a couple of weeks!)

 

Hold the chicken upside down on your lap and check the leg isn't broken by making sure the two feel exactly the same. If she doesn't struggle when you do this, I don't think anything could be broken: in fact she will enjoy having the weight taken off her feet.

 

Then I am afraid you just have to wait. It was two weeks before my hen started to put her bad leg on the ground again, and four weeks before the limp disappeared. She now runs around as normal.

 

Make sure she can get to the food easily. I left my hen in while the others were out and fed her treats to cheer her up, as she wasn't interested in coming out.

 

As for how it happens, I don't know either. Mine had her accident in the Cube run.

[Joanne]

Thanks you all for your advice and concern. Having taken time off work to help the chickens settle, it`s typical that I have to go back to work today!! I`m about to go and check on her foot as advised and wil settle her for the day and hope she`s better this afternoon. Will keep you posted and thanks again.

[Joanne]

Got home this afternoon and found Daisy still limping badly, checked foot and leg and discovered that since this morning the foot had become more swollen and had a bluish tinge (bruising?) also had a bit of exudate from one of the scales.

 

Really woried then about scaley leg.

 

Called a really good friend of mine who is a vet and he came over and took a look, NOT scaley leg thank goodness.

 

No broken bones, must be some form of trauma, so gave a shot of anti-inflamatory and some anti-biotics which he showed me how to administer for the next three days.

 

Won`t be able to use any eggs for 28 days, but as chickens are only @16 wks old, probably won`t have any eggs for a while anyway.

 

The main thing is she should be ok

 

Will let you know how she does over the next few days and thank you all again for your concern its really good to know you are all out there!!!

[Egluntyne]

That is good news.

[Olly]

good news (and lucky you having a vet as a friend!)

[lisa33]

Good News.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Just caught up with this - welcome to the forum, Joanne . Sorry to hear you've had an poorly girl already .

 

Lucky you, having a vet as a friend! I'm glad it's nothing serious and hope she recovers soon.

[Joanne]

Daisy still limping and foot not looking so swollen today. Third lot of antibiotics went down tonight at about eight pm. Hopefully more improvement tomorrow, although from what I have read on the forum, it could take a few weeks for her to be running around again. I have rubbed some arnica cream onto her leg tonight too.

Yes VERY lucky to have Alex the vet, I`ve known him since he was 8 years old although I don`t like to take advantage of his good nature but last night he was a godsend.

 

My other chicken Maisy is sitting with her most of the time and being very "supportive"? Although now that she has settled in, her character is really coming out and I think she ought to be called Mad Maisy!! This evening after I had given Daisy her medicine and put the syringe on the ground, Maisy picked it up and ran off with it!!

 

It is such a shame that this has happened with Daisy so soon after their arrival, I have been looking forward to keeping chickens for such a long time and now we seem to have got off on the wrong foot (pardon the Pun) When Daisy is all better she will either be the tamest chicken in the world, or run like the clappers everytime I go near her!!

[Mutrix Farmers]

Welcome from me too.

 

Hope Daisy continues to improve. You've had an unfortunate start to the world of hen-watching, but hopefully the antibiotics will cure the problem and soon they'll both be chasing you round the garden as if nothing had ever been wrong.

[Joanne]

Daisy Update.....

 

First lot of antibiotics proved to be ineffectual, Alex (vet) had another look and changed type of antibiotics, started these Monday morning and seem to be (fingers crossed) working at the moment. Swelling has gone down considerably, and she is actually putting a bit of weight on it now.

 

Another three days of antibiotics and then we`ll see what happens but I feel optimistic. The cause of this "episode" will never be clear, but so long as she gets better.........

[Joanne]

Daisy is better. No more limp and seems to be in fine health.. In fact I have posted on the EGG forum because this morning she laid her first one. Can`t eat it bacause of the antibiotics but am so pleased.

[AnnieP]

That's such good news Joanne! Well done Daisy!

[Egluntyne]

Am glad to hear that she is improving.

 

Shame about the egg though.