Big roo with broken toe...cannot seem to help him.....PLEASE HELP

Hello all,

I have a big, beautiful Brahma roo that is too big to fly up to the roosts. He is almost 4 years old and I have always just picked him up and placed him on the lower roost (4 ft from ground) so he can snuggle with his ladies. I have never had any issues.

Then about a week ago I opened the coop in the morning and saw that he was unable to walk. I noticed his middle toe was curled under and looked broken. I surmise he jumped off the roost and landed wrong. I splinted it but, he still could curl the entire foot under him and couldn't walk. Then I put an oval stiff piece of plastic under his foot and taped his whole foot down. He had lots of trouble with it but seemed to be doing ok. Today I took the "cast" off and there has been no improvement. Plus, it got down to 5 degrees last night and, even though I tried to give him ample bedding, he got cold.

He is now inside to stay warm. I tried just taping the middle toe....no luck. Then I taped it next to the other....no luck. I am at a loss of what to do. He is a super cool, friendly roo and I don't want to lose my Braaack O'Brahma.

Any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks so much!

Jessie in Eastern WA

Can you get some poultry vitamins that contain vitamin B2 (riboflavin?) Also you could use some human BComplex vitamins daily instead. Riboflavin deficiency can sometimes cause curled toe paralysis, and the toes curl under into a claw. The earlier it is treated, the greater the chances are in helping, unless it is from an injury. I would also try to lower your roosts, or add a gradual step up for him. Lower roosts can reduce injuries from jumping down.

Thank you, Eggcessive, for the reply.

I googled "curled toes". . It doesn't look like "curled toes" here, I really think he broke it because it is painful to him when I touch/manipulate his toe. I will up his B2 though,in case I am wrong. Better safe than sorry!!

My game plan for when he heals (optimism!!) is to put several straw bales together to create steps up to the roosts. He doesn't need help up, so much, since I give him boosts, he definitely needs help down. I think the straw bale steps will help with that. First though is that I need to get him healed up so he can use the steps.

Any ideas on what I can do to support his toes?

If the plastic disk was working as a splint, I'd go back to that. You probably didn't leave it on long enough. Probably at least 2 weeks to let the bone heal if it's broken. Maybe longer. You may need to isolate him in a smaller space to keep his activity down until it can heal.

4 feet is really high for a roost for birds as big as brahma's. I have a mixed flock, with brahma's. My roosts are only 18 inches from the floor of the coop. I also use 2 x 4's for the roosts, wider so they have better balance while on them. Some birds just prefer to 'jump' rather than use a ramp or steps. Best of luck.

Thank you, coach! I will re-do the splint. He is indoors right now because it was so cold. It is a bit warmer so I will set him up in the coop again.

I have a 2x4 lower roost, about 24 inches high. He can get up there but no one will roost with him since they all go higher. I always worry that he will get too cold so that is why I would move him up. I do have a couple of young Brahmas so maybe they can join him.

Thanks again!

Jessie

Hello again,

Just wanted to post an update. My roo's toe is healed and he is doing just fine. Thank you for the advice to re-splint and wait =)

I do have a couple more questions.

1. Since he was down and out, my 2 banty roos have taken to beating him up. Any advice as to what I can do? I have them up for "free" but it is hard to re-home roosters. Yah, I know I could put them in a stew pot but, I am a bit weak-kneed when it comes to that.

2. Braaack has now gained enough mobility to jump up on the low roost but, none of the hens join him to cuddle. We are going to be in the single digits, do I need to worry about him staying warm?

Jessie

Since you are wanting to re-home the banties, I would put them in their own separate pen away from the others. That way your big rooster will reclaim his place as head of the flock. You could temporarily lower all your roosts to the same level as his, and they should start to sleep next to him. Many people love banty roosters as pets, so you could try Craigslist or just put a sign out front. I have successfully given away extra roosters by including a couple of hens.

Wow, just this afternoon I found a home for both of the banty roos through craigslist.....home....not stew pots! I have had an ad on CL for a couple of weeks. I had one person that wanted me to deliver them to downtown Spokane. I knew they were for a stew pot. I didn't but so wanted to say "sorry, this is not meals-on-wheels!"

Thank you for the suggestion to lower the roosts. I think we may try that. We have about 30 chickens so it may be a challenge but, I think it is worth it. Thank you, Eggcessive!

Jessie