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

[Minnie&Moose]

This evening we suddenly noticed our 4 chickens were behaving oddly - all standing, very alert, looking in the same direction. We went to check on them only to find a pile of feathers from the bluebelle, close to the run door (they free range behind electrified poultry netting but we've left the eglu run attached to the eglu within the netting). On closer inspection Martha, the bluebelle, was limping. I checked her over and can find no blood, broken skin or signs of any other damage but the 'ankle' on the injured side is much warmer than normal. I think she may have hurt her foot on the edge of the run as she tried to escape from whatever attacked her.

 

Apart from limping, and sometimes standing with the toes curled under the affected foot, she doesn't appear particularly bothered. We suspect that either a fox or perhaps cat got over the fence and tried to grab her, because of the way she and the others keep looking in a particular direction. It is possible the others attacked her (she's bottom of the pecking order) but we've never seen anything other than minor posturing and pecking by the 2 most dominant chickens so that seems less likely.

 

I plan to let them all sleep together and check on her before I go to bed to make sure all is quiet and she's not being bullied. If there are any problems with bullying I can house her separately. Is there anything else I can/should be doing about her foot - no signs of broken skin, nails, or displaced scales and she can put her weight on it, so I'm assuming there's no broken bones.

 

Any advice most welcome.

[Christian]

Sorry to hear that. Hopefully the ankle will no longer be warm this morning. It could just be bruising if she has sprained the leg, trying to get away from whatever attacked them. Just keep an eye on her and make sure she is comfortable. If she is still warm today, then you might need to see a vet for anti inflams, just to be sure.

 

Hopefully she will be back to her old self soon.

[Minnie&Moose]

Thanks for the reassurance Christian. Martha's looking bright and cheeky this morning but is still limping, and occasionally having to use her wing to balance whilst she fends off the top chicken. So, unless there's a miraculous recovery before tomorrow morning I guess it's off to the vet with her.