Spunky Gets Stuck - Fence Injury & What We Learned.

[sheriffdonut]

Hi all. First time chicken owner and as my RIR's approach 5 months, they have been difficult to contain in the yard.
This evening we came home to one of our chickens stuck in the fence by her foot, I don't know how long she was stuck there for.

Sad Spunky in the car.

She was non weight bearing on this leg and seemed to be in a ton of pain; hunched over, eyes closed, panting and reluctant to walk. We decided to bring her to an Urgent Vet near us and get her some pain meds. Xrays showed a fracture of her non weight bearing bone in her leg.

Hairline fracture in the non weight bearing bone.

Spunky is home on cage rest now from her flock and on Meloxicam twice a day for inflammation. The swelling and bruising has gotten worse, but this is to be expected. Egg withdrawal is two weeks from the last dose of Meloxicam.


Here's what we learned so far.
- Clipping wings is not enough to keep a determined chicken in the yard.
- Plastic Bird Spikes are a worthy choice to deter chickens from gaining height. We've placed these ontop of the run where we think they are climbing on to escape.
- Above all else, some chickens just aren't suited for free ranging in suburban settings.

We've expanded and closed their run as this is our third escapee in the last month. We're hoping this in conjuction with the plastic spikes will stop their antics.

Will post healing updates as they happen. She is in the living room on cage rest for now.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Sorry to hear that Spunky suffered injury.

I hope she heals quickly. Thank you for the information and look forward to seeing updates.

 

[sheriffdonut]

Spunky is still very painful; hobbling to the point of falling over when she tries to walk and crying for her flockmates.
She ate well and drank a ton of water. It was a fight this morning to get her to take her meds.
She's doing better than yesterday though; I think she was in shock when we found her. She wasn't moving at all and we thought she was a goner.
I've attached some photos of the visible bruising on both sides of her right (non-banded) leg. When she's not walking she does hold it up.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Aww, poor little thing! Have you treated her for shock? You can give her a little sugar water, I think it's 1/2 tsp sugar, a pinch of salt and a pinch of soda in 8 oz warm water. Let me check with @Eggcessive to be sure that's right.

 

[Eggcessive]

For shock I would put 1 tsp of sugar per cup of water. For electrolytes I use 1 tsp sugar plus a small pinch of salt per quart of water.

Sorry about Spunky. I can’t see the fracture on the X-ray. Hopefully she will recover from her injury soon. I would limit her activity with no jumping or running.

When my pullets were young but almost grown, they would jump up to the 4 foot chainlink fence, and then dive over into our yard with the dogs. After several injuries, I bought a shock collar which was used with the body of one who died. It took 2 shocks, but he nor the other dogs bothered the chickens again.Later we had a flock inside our yard who would hang out with the dogs and cats.

We did get 42 inch tall portable electric fence netting from Premier that was easily moved, and the hens could not jump on and dive over. So this solved the jumping over the fence problem. We did not use the electric on it, but we had to teach our cats and a small dog not to get stuck in the netting. They seem to only sell the 48 inch netting nowadays, but I found the 42 inch here:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07S3886X...p_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWxfdGhlbWF0aWM

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Spunky is still very painful; hobbling to the point of falling over when she tries to walk and crying for her flockmates.

It *may* be possible to keep her calm and quiet while still being in view of her flock mates. She may also be able to retain her place in the pecking order, if kept mostly in view.

Total separation *can* lend to brutal reintroduction.

Hope she continues to recover quickly!

 

[Eggcessive]

A wire dog crate with food/water within the flock is always the best way to separate, but maintain the flock dynamics.

 

[sheriffdonut]

A wire dog crate with food/water within the flock is always the best way to separate, but maintain the flock dynamics.

I am considering this now that you've mentioned it. Would you coop them all at night or should I be bringing her in at night and reintroducing in the morning?

 

[Eggcessive]

I usually leave mine in the coop in the crate.