spittinfire
Well-Known Member
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.
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.