Locking Bar Eglu Classic

[jennym]

Hi all,

 

Lucy (~18 month-old Gingernut Ranger) came out of the eglu this morning with a bad limp. She stands on one leg most of the time, but she will put the sore foot on the ground sometimes without putting much weight on it, and all the toes are spreading and moving as normal, as far as I can tell. When she walks, she puts it down but limps badly.

 

I've spent quite a long time looking at both her feet & legs and can't see anything obviously different between them. I picked her up and felt both feet and again, nothing was obvious and she didn't seem overly concerned. I felt up what I thought was her sore leg past the elbow but I've realised now that I was feeling the wrong leg so I'll do that again on the correct leg shortly. I'm also going to wash her feet and look for any signs of injury - they're a bit grubby so I'd like to get a better look at them once they're clean. OH will bring home some antiseptic today in case it's necessary.

 

She is eating and drinking, and she will move around a bit when she needs to, but prefers to stay still. She is alert and clear-eyed. I suspect an injury rather than illness because of this, and because she's probably too old for Marek's.

 

I've found a largish vet clinic nearby with some younger vets (e.g. will probably have seen a bit of poultry in school if nothing else), so I'm hoping one of them might know a bit about chickens. I've booked her in for 6pm tomorrow to give her some time to rest and see if there's any improvement.

 

Is there anything else I can do? I am not sure I should separate her as she is not being bullied - my flock of 3 are in an eglu classic with 3m run, and they are all quite calm. I don't have any alternative accommodation for her, although I could pick up a cat carrier or similar locally if I needed to. I thought I'd take out the front roosting bars tonight so she doesn't have to perch, if that's more comfortable.

 

Thanks for your help,

Jen

[Tweety]

Hi,

 

It does sound as if she might have bruised it somehow - one of my girls had similar symptoms having caught her foot in the eglu run in a mad dash for corn. There was no sign of injury, but she limped for quite a few days before things returned to normal.

 

Ha ve you checked underneath her foot for swelling or signs of injury? If that is clear, and her leg and foot are not hot to touch, I would just keep an eye on her and see how it goes. You could try putting arnica cream on the leg, which is good for bruising, but otherwise you are doing exactly what I would do.

 

If there is no improvement in the next couple of days, a trip to the vet is a good idea.

 

Good luck!

[jennym]

Thanks Tweety. I am off outside now to re-examine her leg and wash off her feet - I will do a careful check on the bottom of her foot and between her toes for any swelling, s"Ooops, word censored!"es or scabs.

[jennym]

Had another look and I don't think it's her foot - it's cool, no signs of selling. However her elbow (now that I've checked the correct leg!) feels a bit warm and may be a bit swollen compared to her other leg - hard to be sure as I was alone, holding her myself and mostly going by touch. Since she's moving her leg and has control over her foot and toes, and she's putting a little bit of weight on it, I'm hoping it's a bang or strain rather than a break - fingers crossed. If there's no improvement tomorrow I'll take her along to the vet as planned. Poor wee thing

[jennym]

Lucy seems a bit better this morning - still limping but a bit less. I think I'm going to give her another check over and cancel tonight's vet appointment, as she seems to be improving on her own. I'll keep an eye on her and take her in tomorrow if need be.

 

Thanks for the help Tweety, reading about your experience made me a bit less panicked yesterday, I was convinced she was finished! Hehe, first hen medical problem and I lose the plot

 

Jen x

[Chucky Mama]

You can give them glucosamine with can help with general creaky joints just as it can in other species

[jennym]

general creaky joints

 

Thanks Chucky Mama, I hate to think of her as old as we've only had her just over a year, but at 18 months she's definitely in middle age, edging on senior status, for a !

[jennym]

Just wanted to report back - Lucy is better and back to doing her chicken dance as well as ever

 

She was still sore on Thursday morning so we booked to go to the vet on Friday. She improved quite a bit over Thursday and Friday so we cancelled the vet in the end. We thought the trip would be too stressful, given that she was improving on her own and had no other signs of illness or injury.

 

Thanks for your advice Chucky Mama and Tweety.

[Tweety]

That's great news! Thanks for the update

[Egghead68]

Glad to hear it!