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

[Sam Palmer]

Has anyone with a Cube had this happen to one of their girls? Or was it just bad luck on Sparkle's part?

On Saturday I went to give the chickens some treats and as usual, they all rushed up to where I was, pushing each other out of the way. I was on the left-hand side of the Cube (and have the normal-sized run) and Sparkle, who's the bossiest, pushed in first and the other 3 pushed up behind her, trying to get at the food.

The next thing I see is Sparkle facing the wheel and virtually squashed up against it, with her left wing held at a funny angle and she can't move, even when the others have gone away.

As she seemed to be stuck and I couldn't get at her through the wire of the run, I was about to go in and rescue her when she managed to wriggle, back up and move away, though she did hold her wing out for a moment or two afterwards.

Once she'd moved, I could see where she'd got stuck. A few inches in front of the wheel there's a part of the green metal frame that sticks up and attached to that is a 'silver' metal clip, the top of which sits above the green frame, like a large paper clip.

It looks as though Sparkle got her wing, from the 'shoulder' to the 'elbow', as it were, jammed inbetween the wheel and this protruding clip.

She was still a bit subdued yesterday. She laid and was eating, but wasn't her usual pushy self. I should think she was feeling a bit sore after that.

 

edit: Having been out and looked at the Cube, it was the metal clip and the green frame that supports the front of the Cube, in front of the wheel that she got her wing caught between. There's a gap pf about 2" between these two. The rest of her was squashed up against the wheel.

Edited July 20, 2009 by Guest

[Olly]

ouch! I can't quite visualise this, I'll go and have a look at the Cube in a minute - but no, never heard of that happening to a chicken before. Hope she's fully recovered now.

[Lewis]

I've not heard of this happening before, maybe you should put something in the way, like a plantpot or similar to stop it happening again.

[*mummy_hen*]

Hope she is ok now