Poorly chicken

[Chicklover]

Something strange happened last week to one of my hens that's keeping me puzzled about. We were gone on Sunday evening, there was a delay which kept us from returning home until after dark and thats when we closed the coops. On Monday morning I went out and opened the coops early as I normally do and found one of my beautiful hens sitting on the floor of the coop. I immediately thought something was wrong with her because everyone else was running out the door to have breakfast and she was still sitting. When I lifted her I noticed that her leg was hurt. She couldn't stand on it so I took her out and made a comfortable place for her by our back door with water and food. Upon further examination, I found that about 3" of her two wings were cut off. From front to back on both! Some looked cut, some looked torn or hacked off. My first thought was that it looked like someone had done a terrible job of trimming her wings so she couldn't fly over the run fence! Who would that have been? it wasn't me! I quickly dismissed that thought. I Started thinking fox? Cat? Etc.. I never found the feathers that were cut off which I thought strange. I've been reasoning that if it had been an animal both sides wouldnt have been removed. I think she would have been hurt severely or even killed especially if it had been a fox. I'm now going back to my original thought. Maybe somebody came into our property and did this?!! She was run after, pinned down and wings cut? In the process, her foot was hurt..But why? A mystery I may never solve. She is doing alright now. I kept her in the utility room for about 3 days. Gave her extra loving attention in which she thanked me by giving me two eggs😊 She is happy and can walk on the hurt leg now, Just still has a limp which I'm keeping an eye on. Does anyone have any thoughts about what could have happened?

[The Dogmother]

That sounds very odd - are you able to post any photos of her wings?

[Beantree]

Predators want to eat her. So has she flown into anyone else's garden, if so someone has cropped her flight feathers.

[Chicklover]

Dogmother, Here are some pictures. I took them the day I found her hurt. I'm afraid they're not very good as I was doing it myself. 

Beantree, our run is all secure so she couldn't have gotten out. 

[Chicklover]

Here's a couple pictures I just took. Looks about the same though there is some new growth now. 

[The Dogmother]

I have to say that it does look as if someone has had a go at trimming the primaries

When I first read your initial post, I wondered if a rat might have chewed them. It reminded me of tale a few years back, of a chicken roosting in an eglu classic - one of the wings had protruded out through the gap where the eglu top joins the base at the back; that wing have been chewed by a rat. Your bird looks like something has deliberately been done to her wings; it might be worth asking your neighbours if they had noticed anything or anyone in your garden. If you have an external webcam, it might be worth rigging it up to see what's going on in your absence.

 

[Chicklover]

I had considered a rat as well but knowing the hen is in good health and can run I just didn't think it could be a rat. I don't like the thought of it possibly being a person coming in and doing it but thats all that I can think of. So upsetting! Our garden is secluded, private and has fencing around it but it's very possible someone could jump over and come in and no one see them.  We have wonderful neighbors whom I give eggs to. I need to ask them if they heard any unusual chicken screaming that night. There would have had to be some kind of commotion go on : / Very strange why a person would do this. Just so thankful my hen is ok! I like the idea of a webcam. Thank you for that idea : )

[mullethunter]

That is properly odd. I take it you didn’t find the feathers anywhere? Could her wings have poked out of the coop when it was shut? 

[Chicklover]

I know, it's so strange, isn't it? I couldn't find any feathers and there would have been plenty of them as both sides were cut. The hen house she was staying in was a large shed, partly converted into a coop so no chance her feathers sticking out anywhere. The poor hen couldn't walk or balance herself 😔 if it was a person who broke in and did it, makes me nervous they'll be back!

[The Dogmother]

Can I suggest that you rig up some PIR lighting around the house and near their coop - that will come on if there are any intruders. Trail Cams aren't expensive, and a couple of CCTV signs wouldn't go amiss either. Rather strange - I ca see that someone might steal hens or housing, but clip the wings.....?

1 hour ago, mullethunter said:

That is properly odd. I take it you didn’t find the feathers anywhere? Could her wings have poked out of the coop when it was shut? 

That was what I was thinking.

[Chicklover]

We have security and lights at the front of our house and a light near the back door but they only alert/light up when someone is in those areas. Chicken run is to the side front of our house about 35-50 ft. It's close to the road under the trees but it's secluded with alot of hedges. Many people walk by and can hear the chickens. Someone could just be annoyed at the sound or just being unkind. Could be a one off but you never know : ( We had eggs stolen when we used to sell eggs out front. A grown man probably in his 60s! I'll see what my husband can do to add some security in that area. It is quite dark there at night would be nice to have a light or two plus a camera 😊

[Beantree]

Another possibility is she got one of her legs stuck somewhere and went into a flapping panic. The ends of some feathers are splintered and she could have just smashed them to pieces? Have a look at her feet and legs for signs of scale damage.

[mullethunter]

I know people can be odd and sometimes unpleasant but I really can’t see a person doing this. To my mind the most likely possibilities are either that she somehow got stuck somewhere by her wings and possibly one foot, and managed to free herself by ripping her feathers, or that somehow another animal has had a go at her. 

What is the run like? I’m thinking it could have happened during the day but she managed to get herself into the coop and so obviously you wouldn’t have known there was anything wrong until the next morning.

[Chicklover]

Beantree and mulletHunter thank you for you input. I agree, it doesn't make any sense why a person would come in and deliberately do this. The run is large and open under the trees. Tall fencing around it. There definitely could be places to get caught. The chickens have our company most of the time. Very spoilt 😄 The hurt chicken was fine at the time we left at 5:30. We didn't return until about 9 so alot of time for something to happen : ( I'll check her feet and scales again but i checked her hurt leg pretty thorough the day I found her and didn't see anything unusual. I still wonder why ive never been able to find any of the cut feathers. I've seen chickens eat small downy feathers but not mature thick ones so I've ruled out that the chickens ate them all. The splintered cut off feathers are thick and not so easy to break off. if she was flapping about I just don't think they could break off like that, being stuck In Something..could happen but it still goes back to that both wings look almost identical in the cutting. Seems impossible that an accident occured but I don't want to rule against it yet. I'd be much happier knowing that she did something herself rather then it being an imposter. Still looking for clues and will post an update if I find anything concrete. 

[Natspringy]

Goodness, sorry this has happened. Hope she's and you are okay x

Edited September 5, 2018 by Natspringy

[Chicklover]

Thank you natspringy for your kind words. She's doing very well considering what happened. I'm not sure if her leg will be normal again as she still has the limp but she's happily with the other chickens eating and making lovely hen sounds. Her wings are slowly growing back which will take some time as they are really messed up : ( Sure wish I could figure out exactly what happened!

[Natspringy]

2 hours ago, Chicklover said:

Thank you natspringy for your kind words. She's doing very well considering what happened. I'm not sure if her leg will be normal again as she still has the limp but she's happily with the other chickens eating and making lovely hen sounds. Her wings are slowly growing back which will take some time as they are really messed up : ( Sure wish I could figure out exactly what happened!

Glad she's okay!  Bless her. We have a camera in our coop, think you can set them to record, perhaps worth investing in? So sorry this happened. So pleased she seems to be okay. x

[Luvachicken]

So sorry to read about what has happened - I hope she is still doing well.

I just had a thought as to a little experiment ..... I wondered if feathers cut with scissors have the same appearance as feathers that have been done by an animal.

I would think ones done with scissors would have a smooth end as opposed to jagged maybe ?

If there is a difference this could help you find out what happened.