Need help with a hurt chicken

spittinfire

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First off, I don't want to eat this bird. I have no problem killing, cleaning and eating a chicken but I raised this one and he's kind of become my buddy. I'm also relatively new to chickens so I haven't had to deal with anything like this before.

Any of you guys here that keep/raise chickens have you ever had a chicken suddenly develop a limp? I check for eggs twice a day because I have one chicken that lays in her sleep and the rest lay in the afternoon. So Wednesday morning I check them and everyone is OK. Wednesday night when I get home my rooster has a fairly severe limp and his beak is bleeding slight. His beak is normally black and it looks like the top layer got taken off somehow. He still eats and pecks around. I cleaned his beak up and put him back in the coop.

I started googling chicken limp/leg problems and get everything from a broken leg to a sprain to bumblefoot. Tonight I go out and inspect both feet/legs. I cannot see or feel a difference between the two even while moving them. Since the bird cannot communicate pain I'm starting to think he's sprained something or maybe has a hairline fracture. I have video on my phone that I'd be glad to send to anyone or post here if I could figure out how.

I'm just looking for some help to give the guy a chance. If it's beyond what I can do personally then that's fine and I'll have to find a new roo.
 
Is he the only rooster in the flock?
Are all the perches the same size?
How many bids in flock?
What kind of fencing do you have?
What breed of chicken?
 
Is he the only rooster in the flock?
Are all the perches the same size?
How many bids in flock?
What kind of fencing do you have?
What breed of chicken?

He’s the only rooster, perches are the same height, only 6 birds, coop has 1/2” hardware cloth and if they aren’t in there then they’re free. He is an ameraucana


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If the only rooster, then probably not from fighting. Hens will let him mount or not, but very few "fight back"
By size of perches, I mean diameter. Perches all the same size tend to put pressure at the same spot all the time. Better to have different sizes.
6 is a good size, enough to form the little social groups they need.
Hardware cloth is fine, but with free run, most anything could be the cause- snakes, bug bite, stray glass or wire...

I would cage rest him for a week to see how it goes. Large dog crates work good, just cut a tree branch for a perch. If a sprain or small fracture, you will see him get better with time
 
I would isolate him in a dog crate or similar to protect him and limit further injury and give a chance for it to heal. Food, water, deep pine shavings and no roost.
 
At the risk of sounding like a ninny, have you consulted a vet with this question?? Not a small animal vet like we see on Main Street but a farm animal type vet....
 
First off, I don't want to eat this bird. I have no problem killing, cleaning and eating a chicken but I raised this one and he's kind of become my buddy. I'm also relatively new to chickens so I haven't had to deal with anything like this before.

Any of you guys here that keep/raise chickens have you ever had a chicken suddenly develop a limp? I check for eggs twice a day because I have one chicken that lays in her sleep and the rest lay in the afternoon. So Wednesday morning I check them and everyone is OK. Wednesday night when I get home my rooster has a fairly severe limp and his beak is bleeding slight. His beak is normally black and it looks like the top layer got taken off somehow. He still eats and pecks around. I cleaned his beak up and put him back in the coop.

I started googling chicken limp/leg problems and get everything from a broken leg to a sprain to bumblefoot. Tonight I go out and inspect both feet/legs. I cannot see or feel a difference between the two even while moving them. Since the bird cannot communicate pain I'm starting to think he's sprained something or maybe has a hairline fracture. I have video on my phone that I'd be glad to send to anyone or post here if I could figure out how.

I'm just looking for some help to give the guy a chance. If it's beyond what I can do personally then that's fine and I'll have to find a new roo.

I had a couple to have the limp, then a few more and then finally fixed the entrance to the coop with a ramp and haven’t had the issue since.

The ones we had a problem like this we brought them in the house and put them in a small cage so they would be up wondering around and let them rest.

Plus that allows them to be isolated just in case if it is some illness or something

YMMV, but your chicken in question may have hurt it jumping down from somethingi
 
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At the risk of sounding like a ninny, have you consulted a vet with this question?? Not a small animal vet like we see on Main Street but a farm animal type vet....

No, I haven't. I didn't really want to drop $50-100 in a bird right now plus my wife wants him gone anyway so when I even mentioned it she shot me down.

You're still a ninny.
 
Well excuse the hell out of me for thinking about your damned limp chicken. Kill the SOB and feed him to the coyotes for all I give a s*i*...

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The roost could be too high and cause damage/injury when coming off the roost. I use 2 x 4 ripped in half for roost bars. This allows for a wider perch and keeps the toes covered during extreme cold temps preventing frostbite. The broken beak could be from fighting or hitting the bottom of the food container. The beak will usually grow back with no problem.
 
Old joke: Did you hear about the guy who had two pet chickens? One got sick, so he killed the other one to make it chicken soup.
 
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