# Hurt hen leg... Please help



## Marcellandholly (Jan 26, 2020)

I'm not sure when this happened. She was okay yesterday afternoon and this morning when I opened their coop she wouldn't come out, which is very unlike her. Once she did, I saw her leg. She isn't attempting to walk much, it's awful looking. I have no idea what happened or what I can do for her. Any ideas??????


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

First you need to pick her up and examine that leg. It could be broken, it could be a dislocation, it could be a serious cut. Check for heat and swelling. That the bones are straight. 

And if possible a pic of the leg to see if a deformity can be seen.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I decided to add a tip that might help you examine her leg without her going crazy on you. Pick her up, sit down, lay her in the depression your legs make. It might take a moment but she will relax and let you look at it.


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## Sylie (May 4, 2018)

Holy cow, have you figured out what is wrong with it? Make sure you also check to see if her hip on that side is dislocated. Poor baby  I wonder what happened. I sure hope you can figure it out.

Good tip Robin, if she can relax it will definitely help in being examined.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I got a lot of practice with a Guinea girl with an eye that looked like it was going to explode and later with a rooster that had a cancerous lesion on his leg. 

Figure if a Guinea will lay like that quietly to get an eye treated then using that trick with a chicken is child's play.


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## Sylie (May 4, 2018)

I can see it working to a degree. I'm not sure how the OP would get to look at the leg when she's lying on it though, she'd have to disturb her, maybe she would allow the fussing if she's relaxed, I'm not sure. When I have to look at my hen's feets, my husband picks them up with his thumbs on their backs and fingers over the wings down toward her belly then brings her back up to his chest so that her belly and feet are pointing at me. I have one hen that picks up every stone in the yard between her toes and I have to dig it out every single day, we have gotten good and fast doing it this way. If you have a good hold on their wings and get their back to your chest relatively quickly, there is almost (if any at all) no struggle, just do what you have to do and put her back down.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

No, I guess I missed that part. The bird will be laying on it's back. The human's legs act as a cradle, frees up both hands for doing and examination.


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## Sylie (May 4, 2018)

oh geeze lol I had it backwards, my girls would never allow me to put them on their backs if they are conscious lol I can't even imagine how that would work.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

It really works very well, if you were familiar with Guineas you would understand how amazing it is that it works with them. It takes a few seconds for them to calm but when they do you can work with them quite easily.


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## Sylie (May 4, 2018)

huh! neat! I know with ducks, the procedure I described for the chickens works like a charm and it works very well with the chickens too but the only thing is that I have my husband to help, I'd have to do something different if I was alone, I'll have to see if I can get her to do that tomorrow when I pick her feet. Nice tip! See, even experienced people can learn things


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

And I'm not experienced? Was that a dig? 

Since Bob worked away from home I had to figure out a way to do it myself. A guinea is about 10 times stronger than a chicken and if they are upright they're going to win every time.


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## lover of birds (Nov 7, 2017)

That looks bad. Probably best to find a veterinarian to take her to.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

The biggest issue with a vet is that too many still won't see chickens. I found I had to bring the treatment plan with me because the vet knew so little about treating them.


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## Sylie (May 4, 2018)

it was not a dig lol, I meant myself, I have experience but I learned something.


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## Sylie (May 4, 2018)

yeah, none of the vets here will see chickens. I know there is an "exotic" animal vet an hour away, they might see chickens, I've never asked.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Years ago a member from another forum had a roo that was ill. I'm drawing a blank now what all was going on but she drove quite a ways to an exotic vet, that vet told her to do this that and the other thing. Her instincts said no, something isn't right there. I wish I could remember all of what went on but the exotic vet was wrong and she was right, the roo recovered.

They do things different with exotics than we do with chickens. Large animal vets have been the best for me when it came to treating my chickens. They usually willing to give it a whirl.


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## Sylie (May 4, 2018)

OUrs won't even entertain the idea of looking at a chicken, you can't pay them enough to make an appt for a chicken.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Don't you live in a place that it's all small animal vets?


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## Sylie (May 4, 2018)

No, I live in farm country (SE Iowa). Our town is growing into a larger city recently but it's in a state of flux, too many people moving in but the businesses are all the same. (we have gotten a few new ones in the last year like a Starbucks but basically, it's the same) When we moved here 25 yrs ago, you couldn't spit without hitting a cow, now the neighborhoods have grown up so much that you have to drive to find a farm. My house was always in a neighborhood but at the time, the nearest farm was less than 3 blocks away, now it's miles.
So our vets are all farm vets, the nearest small animal vet is an hour up the highway. They all consider chickens and other farm birds to be "disposable". If they get sick, cull them and get new ones. Makes me sick honestly.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

That stinks. I consider myself lucky that even though I've moved around I find vets that will give it a try with my birds.


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## Sylie (May 4, 2018)

You are very lucky. I'm glad that you have cooperative vets.


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## Frank Alvarez (Oct 3, 2019)

The calming effect by lying on their backs is something chicken share with reptiles. That's how they put alligators to "sleep" by rolling them on their back. I think it has to do with their inner ear as I recall. Chicken will also calm down if you pick them up by their feet so their head dangles with the Same effect of laying them on their back. I use it if I have to pick up numerous chickens at 1 time at night if they be escaped and I need to get them back in their coop or something .I know it's more humane to just took your arm around them but sometimes they just insist on fighting And you can't pick up more than one chicken with your arm around them but by Holding them
by the feet you can put 1 chicken between each finger and potentially take up 5 chickens in 1 hand


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