# Limping



## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

When it rains it pours. Priscilla my year old tetra is limping. I picked her up and checked both her feet. No marks, no swelling, no cuts nothing.... Clean feet .. She is favoring her right foot/leg as i videotaped it. I checked all the other hens feet to see if they looked the same as Priscilla's and they all look the same- clean,no swollen feet..


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

She might have gotten knocked off the roost after what you said in the other thread. 

But, with this being the third bird with issues I'd watch her and the others closely. If she progresses in to something far worse, its time to think about having a necropsy done to try to isolate what might be there.


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

She isnt the silkie that gets kicked off... I am so upset over this. No issues for almost a year now two dead hens and another one limping

I just dont get it.. Unless the local dry mash I'm feeding isnt good enough. Its the only thing i can think of. But i also have the regular crumble in a separate feeder as two of my hens wouldn't eat the dry mash. But when Dora my first hen died i wasn't feeding the mash at that point


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I remember it was the Silkies but it doesn't mean she didn't take someone's place and got shoved out of the way. They can be very territorial about who roosts where next to whom. I've watched mine boink another on the head to make her move over and over again until the bird moves or gets shoved off.


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

Maybe the tetra knocked the silkie off and fell too ? I'm still keeping an eye on them. I have neem oil, vetrycician (totally misspelled) blue kote and vet wrap sitting on the counter ready for use.


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

Ok maybe it is bumble foot starting? There is no hole in the bottom of her foot, the ball is a little swollen but nothing else.., I'm going to try to take a pic tonight when i get home from work


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

It could just be a bruise. When we bruise the bottom of out feet it hurts and we limp. And being on the bottom of the foot makes it take longer to heal.

I know why you're so concerned and its hard not to go to that bad place. Right now you need to take the hardest position of all, wait and see. That's the one thing I've always recommended because most times it turns out OK. And sometimes we do more harm by rushing in.


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

Thanks Robin I'm ready and waiting to see what it is (my purse isnt lol)


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

And she is still limping. No cuts, no mites, nothing showing except her foot and ankle area look a little swollen when i inspected her again


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

You can try putting a 325 mg aspirin in a gallon of water. Its beginning to sound more like a sprain if you think its a bit swollen. That leg should feel warmer than the other if it is a sprain. The aspirin will help for certain in that case.


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

I'll grab her tomorrow morning and feel her legs . Will the aspirin be ok for the other hens since they all drink the same water?


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

It won't hurt them for the two or three days it'll be in there. You might have to consider keeping her from roosting so she doesn't keep jumping down on that leg.


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

Ok thanks. I have a ladder inside so they can climb up to roost for all the roosts . Some are stupid and fly up but the rest climb the ladders. Hmmm shoukd we lower the coop roosts to 5 inches from the floor?


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Explain a little better to me what I'm looking at. Do they have to come down a ramp to leave the coop? 

It appears that there are a lot of places for her to jump from and most will flap/jump when leaving the roost. That one very narrow ramp looks like OSB, probably not a good thing to have in there because it can rough up feet allowing bumble to form.


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

They have a ramp to walk into coop. A ramp attached to the coop ramp to walk to roost in the pen area, the ladders to go to the other square roost and a ladder as a roost. I removed the flat board going up to the square roost and put the small ladder in its place


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)




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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

There is so much going on in those two spaces that I can see potential for leg injury. I've had roosters hang their spurs in the wire. Others have had a bird get hung up in a right angle. In the coop I would probably change the roost to run across the back, furthest from the door. Have two, one in front of the other or they can be stair stepped. You could actually do that with it from the floor to the upper level. Like bleachers. 

I would also lose that thing the OSB went to. Chickens don't roost much during the day so they really don't serve a purpose. And they can be very much like little boys and find ways to get hurt that we never dream of.


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

Thank you! The square roost was put in for room for the winter so they had a place to roost and not be in each other's way. I'll take that out and the two ladders too. I'll see if i have wood to move the roosts the other way in the coop, we did it that way so everyone can roost inside the coop and not be squished


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

I just took both ladders out plus the square roost plus the roost by the one ladder. Now its all open, since they roam their yard now that there is no more snow so they are not locked up in the pen area anymore


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

I'm going to work on moving the inside coop roosts too and make them more bleacher type (which is what i wanted to do from the start but my boyfriend didnt listen to me) so this weekend i am going to fix it


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

I'm going to have to figure out how to work around the nesting boxes , they are on the left. Like a tiered bleacher type so that they dont block the nesting boxes..










If you see the left side are my 4 nesting boxes.. So i have to figure out how to put roosts. I am thinking i can use one of the ladders for that side to make some sort of post for the roosts


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

I put one ladder in as it rained today so they were able to roost on it


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

Aspirin is helping but she is still limping.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

She will. Make every effort to stop her from hopping or jumping down from anything. You might end up having to put her in a cage by herself to restrict her activity. This is just like a human spraining an ankle, it takes time to heal and the more its used the longer it takes.


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