1 wing drooping...is there a solution?
Marc Felton
their chickens outdoors to breathe fresh air, take a little sunshine,
and eat a few blades of grass.
But today, I discovered I have a small problem. I need advice. Went
out to give the layers a X-mas present of some morning scratch, and
one of my prize red sex links ran up to me with one wing seriously
drooping. Hawk w/ a near miss perhaps? Got stuck in something? Anyway,
it looks broken. Her other wing is tucked normally, so I dont think
its some kind of systemic thing, also its winter (don't they drop 'em
when its really hot?), also the other chickens are all 100% fine. Plus
she was the first one to run up to me and she was chowing the grain
with the rest of em like she didn't have a problem.
Anyway, if it was one of my heritage birds that doesn't lay that many
eggs, I'd just put her in a cone and send her to heaven. However,
this is one of my _profitable_ chickens (well, not counting labor of
course), so I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to help her? I
figure with a major long term injury, she'll lay less eggs but eat the
same amount of feed, and if I can't fix it, I should probably free up
the roost space and feed resources for the rest of them. Leave it for
hobbyists to be sentimental about individual birds' rights, I'm hoping
to go pro here. But, if its fixable, I'd like to get my next 6
months' strong production out of this phase2 10 month old production
red hen...Maybe chicken wings heal on their own? Maybe a lame wing
won't affect egg production in your experience? Can I splint her with
some chopsticks and some athletic tape?
Jane Rutzler
| Hi Marc, We have had chickens for 20+ years and have had that happen also. Mostly in younger chicks. Sometimes because they are chilled. Since it got cold and snowed for the past few days I have had a black Red Star (that is about 5 years old) be very droopy. She just laid around the hen house not really moving, and for sure I thought she was going to die. Now that the temps are back into the 30's she is up walking around and pecking the ground as if nothing is wrong... so I am wondering if she was just cold... But the one wing drooping I am not so sure that is a good thing. For me, I have a homeopathic Dr I go to and I have used some of his liquid drops for bacteria, that he has given us in the past. When I notice one of them is acting droopy or different, I put a few drops in their water..figuring if it is a disease maybe it will help them all.....and so far that works..but I still don't know the cause..(or disease "name"). (at this point I am not sure what I would do if I didn't know where to get homeopathics!). The only way to be sure if it is an injury is to physically look at her and check it out....If you want to go professional, then maybe saving one hen isn't the way you will go.. Again, if you want to go professional, get yourself some good chicken care books that go into disease...if even to just know what they might have (that is what I base my homeopathic use on..to determine if what they have is bacterial or viral) I hope any of this helps..but we, I guess, are those homesteader types and the animals that live here stay until death....productive or not....its just the way we are...I figure when we take them on they are our responsibility... hope your hen is ok...is there a way to warm them up? (or just her?) have a good and safe one.... Jane (LI NY) --- On Fri, 12/25/09, Marc Felton <ma...@gmail.com> wrote: |
|
Sally John
it could be Marek's disease - drooping wing (or dragging foot) are possible
manifestations. If it is, it depends on whether it's a mild or a virulent
strain; if mild, she could recover completely, and you'll have the added
"benefit" that she'll shed the virus forever, so all your birds will have
the mild strain, and be immune to more virulent ones.
Sally
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Sent: December-25-09 12:13 PM
To: Grass-Fed Eggs
Subject: [Grass-Fed-Eggs] 1399 1 wing drooping...is there a solution?
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Marc Felton
day ranging some top-hat-special chicks that are too young and a
Cooper's Hawk has really been keying in and dining on them. I think he
got ahead of himself and tried to take one of my full grown ones,
perhaps met his match or something.
There are feathers missing on top, but I haven't wanted to mess around
enough to pull all feathers away and look for lesions on the skin. Her
behavior is so normal that I think it must be a pinched nerve or
something. Yesterday it looked even better than day before, the wing
was only half as drooped as it was the first day. My current plan is
to do nothing about it, it looks to me like she's not really suffering
and if anything her condition is improving.
I hope its not Marek's, and I kinda doubt it. The bird is 10 months
old. I know the vaccine can fail in some small amounts, but I tried to
be double safe by keeping the turkeys nearby. Every time I moved the
turkey tractor when the turkeys were little, the hens were cleanup
crew on that high protein feed. Thus I am hoping any Mareks that got
through the vaccine is the turkey variety...
I do have the chicken health handbook (Damerow). 2 references to
"wing" in the index, one is wing rot and the other is wing web
vaccination. I dont think it answers the fundamental question I have
that was hidden in my post: do you think a permanently broken wing (if
that happens) will affect the laying ability of a red hen? will she
still clean the house, grow wheat, and make bread?
thanks,
-marc
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Lila Chapman
If it were my bird, I would check her for lesions or open wounds. Dressing
a wound with a small amount of 3% peroxide would help an infected wound. I
use a syringe or even a teaspoon to apply a small amount. One can us a
Q-tip, but do not touch the wound directly.
We have too many miracle stories around our farm that had we not taken
action, we would have lost those animals. We have a Gold Lace Wyandotte hen
break her leg just before we had a planned farm tour. I have no idea how it
happened. When I found her, the leg was hanging by the skin only. I was
too busy to put her out of her misery. I put her in cage with straw in the
bottom; put food and water within her beak's reach. She continued to eat
for the next week, so we decided not to put her down. She laid perfectly
still for nearly three weeks until one day she stood on her good leg. One
week later she stood on both legs. She walks up and down the exit ramp from
her coop. Our hen, Miracle, is still alive and still laying her few
remaining eggs. She is now eight years old and a featured hen at our farm
when children visit.
For a commercial farm, the effort may not be worth the time. For us as
trained Livestock Advisors through Washington State University and 4-H
Leaders, we use these stories to encourage youth to be kind to animals.
Happy New Year,
Lila
thanks,
-marc
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Chris Squires
which are not disease-related.
Sniff the head -- if it doesn't smell bad, it isn't putrid, it probably
is healing OK. I'm glad she's feeling better!
Chris
Marc Felton wrote:
> I'm pretty sure its a physical injury. . . .
