# Chicken hit by car, seems fine, but can't stand.



## thekibblegoddes (Jun 24, 2014)

It finally happened. Speeding car + slow moving hen = a puzzle. This happened yesterday, Wednesday. She was sitting off the side of the road like she was dustbathing when i found her shortly after the accident. Took her inside and examined her. No bruising or bleeding on her body or wings, but the tops of her feet were scraped up quite a bit.. I cleaned off the blood and dirt with hydrogen peroxide. I dusted arrowroot powder on the scratches to help with clotting. She was put in a small box with a towel on the bottom so she wouldn't move around and kept in the dark without food or water overnight (I have found that resting the digestion helps the bird deal with the initial trauma.) She is now getting all she can drink 3x's/day and all the fermented mash she can eat 2x's/day, and has been moved to a slightly bigger box bedded with shredded paper in the laundry room. 
The puzzle is that i can't figure out what is wrong with her. She sits with her wings slightly down, propping herself up. Her legs aren't broken, she can kick them and clench her feet. But she can't stand up. She paddles her wings to move herself forward. She is eating and drinking well. Her poops are normal. And she even laid an egg today. She just can't stand and walk, and i can't figure out why not. Does this sound like a broken pelvis? Any insight would be appreciated.


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## CountryMom22 (Nov 27, 2014)

I'm sorry for the poor girl. I'm sure this is very frustrating for both of you. Maybe swelling around her spine or something that is making it uncomfortable to move around? I've never had this happen, but will send healing vibes. Please let us know how things turn out.


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## Laura Workman (May 10, 2002)

I had a chicken stepped on by a horse. Seemed fine, but never stood again. After a week or two, I put her down. I also had a Muscovy Duck drake that had a stock panel fall on him. He couldn't stand or walk. After a week of hospital time, he was walking again, and after three weeks, you'd never know he was hurt. I say give her care and time, and see if she makes it. Poultry are incredibly resilient.


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## LFRJ (Dec 1, 2006)

I'm am dealing with something like that now, myself, only it's the second time with this bird. She fell off her perch during a cold freeze, onto the concrete-hard frozen ground (no snow) and now can't walk. Second time with this. The first time, she recovered, but was oddly deformed (her tail sticks down). We had a goose break her leg. I kept her contained in a small area for a long time - near the flock but contained> When I say long time, i mean 8-9 weeks. She made it. 

I tend to think that, if a bird is injured but bones are not broken - something is instead, dislocated, and preventing them from walking. I cant' take my birds to the vet, so when this happens, I inspect the bird to see if I can detect a break. If not, I very, very, VERY gently and slowly, stretch the limb out to its full extension in hopes that the dislocation will re-set and then isolate the bird to heal as you've done. Remove as much stress from the bird as possible (as you have) meaning that they have safe, dark, warm location with plenty of food and water. Antibiotics optional.Good luck.

I've pulled birds through some major injuries and they've survived including amputations, lost and damaged eye, major lacerations - even had geese that had all their toe nails ripped out. Birds can make it through some pretty devastating injuries - but very seldom have I pulled them through an internal sickness. They just won't let you know they're having a tough time until it's too late. 

Again, good luck. Hopefully someone with more experience will chime in.


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## thekibblegoddes (Jun 24, 2014)

UPDATE: The injured hen, now A.K.A. Princess Poopy-Butt (not very nice, but alliterative), is I think enjoying her hospital stay. She's had a bath & I cut a vent hole in her sling so I'm not gagging when I go into the laundry room. The bruising on her feet is slowly receding. Which is a good thing; bruised chicken feet are seriously scary. They could star in their own horror movie. She can retract her legs, but still cannot extend them. Her feet are still very swollen and her toes don't move, but she does have circulation in them.


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## Sumatra (Dec 5, 2013)

My experience with this is very much like LFRJ's. I had a hen last year who who had a similar condition. No idea what happened to her, but I found her hiding in a bush while all the others were free-ranging. There was no blood, but she couldn't use her left leg or really move around without using her wings.

I extended her leg to make sure nothing was broken or dislocated, and kept her in a small cat carrier to limit her movement. This prevented her from trying to go anywhere which could have impeded the healing process. She got her normal food and water. By day four she could put some weight on it, but it took her two weeks before she was back with her flock. The only time afterwards you could tell she ever had a problem was if she was running. She was sort of awkward with that, but walking was fine.


Chickens are very resilient to physical injury, it's internal problems that are hard to deal with.


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## CountryMom22 (Nov 27, 2014)

What's the latest? Is she doing any better?


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## cntrywmnkw (Jun 5, 2013)

First of all, so sorry about your girl being hurt.

I had a 5 month old SLW that was attacked by a pack of dogs, I thought she was dead, but, thank goodness, she was only wounded (had 2 puncture wounds on back, also minus a few feathers on back from dog). I brought her in house & cleaned her wounds & made her as comfortable as I could, then found a "poultry" vet & had her examined (didn't want her suffering), vet said he thought problem was nerve was swelled from puncture. He thought she would be able to walk again when nerve swelling went down & he was right, it took awhile, several weeks, but you can't tell she was ever hurt now.
Give her a little time & see how she does, as others have said, it's amazing how resilient they are.


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## thekibblegoddes (Jun 24, 2014)

Update: The Princess is making small progress. She can extend her left leg but not her right. She had another bath and i scrubbed her legs with olive oil and salt, then rubbed the salt off and put her back in a clean sling. This took off most of the dead skin & hydrated her feet a bit. I take her out and put her on the floor to feed twice a day hoping she'll keep trying to move around a bit.


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## aart (Oct 20, 2012)

Heard the same thing as cntrywmn from a vet about swelling in the spine causing rear end paralysis for my dog...took time, but the legs came back and she was pretty fine for years after.

Time will tell, only you can judge what to do with your animals, best of luck.


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## Waiting Falcon (Nov 25, 2010)

I saw one of my hens hit by the bumper of a dump truck...she tried to fly to safety to avoid the truck.
I kept her in a small cage for weeks feeding her and talking to her.
She survived, lame to start with but even that mostly went away. 
She lived three more years before a hawk got her.


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