Hi all. I have four chickens, two about 1.5 years and the other two are 1 year olds. Last Wednesday morning around 5 AM, my housemate and I heard startled clucking followed by their danger/alert squawk from two of the hens. We both got up to see what the fuss was about and our best guess was they got startled by a palm frond that fell to the ground on the side of the house where they usually hang out first thing in the morning. I saw the two babies (year olds) and one of the older hens, but did not see our barred rock, our hardiest hen, assuming she was just unfazed and foraging somewhere. I was also half asleep to really assess the situation, so I went back inside to sleep a little longer before going about my day. Later that afternoon, my housemate went outside to water the plants and then came back in to tell me that something was wrong with our barred rock. He found her limping on her left leg and just sitting in place unlike the rest of the flock. I rushed outside to check, picked her up and brought her inside to rest, unable to piece what might’ve caused it. These girls have been with us for what seems like so long and there aren’t really any hazards they could get into where we have them free ranging so it has me curious to what might have happened. There was also no chicken near the palm frond when it dropped and they’re all usually great at clearing an area they sense danger at. Not to mention, we are located in Hawaii so there are no natural predators, we’ve never seen a mongoose in our neighborhood, and the neighborhood cats are probably more afraid of our girls. I checked for signs of a wound, but nothing.
We decided to isolate her for a few days until we were able to get her to a vet. We told everything described above to the vet and came back with her assessment. She said she felt along her leg and didn’t find anything obvious so she might have just sprained it or tore a ligament. She was prescribed pain killers and to just keep her isolated as we have and we’ll reassess in two weeks.
When we got home, it dawned on me that the day before the injury, my housemates nieces and nephews came over. I was in my room working and hadn’t stepped foot outside to socialize when they were present, but I heard the kids outside with the chickens. I heard the nephew, who’s about 16, sound like he was trying to catch the girls, followed by flapping sounds and his comment of “they’re so hard to catch” and laughter. I didn’t think anything of it, but now I’m wondering if he grabbed her and she flew from his grip, but hurt her in the process.
One of the nieces who is about 5 years old and also a terror when she visits (breaking things all over the house, screaming at the chickens whenever she gets close to them, breaking our eggs she collects) could also be the culprit, but I can’t say for certain.
I gave her a bath to relax her the other day and it was only when I began drying her with a hairdryer that I noticed the bruise on her left upper thigh. I felt a small hard bone or something underneath the bruise so I’m assuming it’s a fracture. I just am hoping she won’t be limping forever and will recover with a bit of rest and isolation.
My biggest question is could it have been the kids that hurt her? An upper thigh bruise just seems like an odd place for an injury just running and being startled from a fallen palm frond. I don’t want to blame the kids, but I can’t think of what else could have happened. Also if anyone thinks she’ll heal from an upper thigh fracture or if her left leg will never recover. Thank you.
We decided to isolate her for a few days until we were able to get her to a vet. We told everything described above to the vet and came back with her assessment. She said she felt along her leg and didn’t find anything obvious so she might have just sprained it or tore a ligament. She was prescribed pain killers and to just keep her isolated as we have and we’ll reassess in two weeks.
When we got home, it dawned on me that the day before the injury, my housemates nieces and nephews came over. I was in my room working and hadn’t stepped foot outside to socialize when they were present, but I heard the kids outside with the chickens. I heard the nephew, who’s about 16, sound like he was trying to catch the girls, followed by flapping sounds and his comment of “they’re so hard to catch” and laughter. I didn’t think anything of it, but now I’m wondering if he grabbed her and she flew from his grip, but hurt her in the process.
One of the nieces who is about 5 years old and also a terror when she visits (breaking things all over the house, screaming at the chickens whenever she gets close to them, breaking our eggs she collects) could also be the culprit, but I can’t say for certain.
I gave her a bath to relax her the other day and it was only when I began drying her with a hairdryer that I noticed the bruise on her left upper thigh. I felt a small hard bone or something underneath the bruise so I’m assuming it’s a fracture. I just am hoping she won’t be limping forever and will recover with a bit of rest and isolation.
My biggest question is could it have been the kids that hurt her? An upper thigh bruise just seems like an odd place for an injury just running and being startled from a fallen palm frond. I don’t want to blame the kids, but I can’t think of what else could have happened. Also if anyone thinks she’ll heal from an upper thigh fracture or if her left leg will never recover. Thank you.
