- May 8, 2007
- 110
- 2
- 139
I have a 7 mo old Jersey Giant roo who was limping pretty badly after a racoon got into the coop a week and a half ago. We brought him inside, put antibiotic ointment onto the place where skin was broken (it seemed like his knee had been skinned almost, not so much puncture wound) and have been keeping him on shavings in a bathtub in an unused bathroom. I started him on antibiotic feed 3 days ago since he seemed no better after a week.
His "knee" (whatever that joint is where his leg meets his feathers) is swollen almost twice as big as the other one. I called the vet we use for our cat who is upfront about admitting he knows little about chickens and just got some himself, who said it was likely a broken leg or infection. The wounds are healing nicely and don't look infected at all. The leg isn't bent at an odd angle or anything, the joint is just really swollen.
But the poor roo spends his days sitting or standing with his leg pulled up under him. Even at this point, he can put little or no weight on it, and has a hefty limp. Since it's at a joint, I wasn't sure how to split it or help it heal. Reading up, I see that it can take 6 weeks for a broken bone to heal.
What more should I be doing for him? We are remodeling our kitchen, so on days it's not raining, I put him in a bin with some shavings outside so the chaos and noise won't bother him. On rainy days, he's stuck with it tho. I'm just not sure if I'm doing right by him. He is alert, bright eyed and eating and drinking fine.
Any thoughts?
His "knee" (whatever that joint is where his leg meets his feathers) is swollen almost twice as big as the other one. I called the vet we use for our cat who is upfront about admitting he knows little about chickens and just got some himself, who said it was likely a broken leg or infection. The wounds are healing nicely and don't look infected at all. The leg isn't bent at an odd angle or anything, the joint is just really swollen.
But the poor roo spends his days sitting or standing with his leg pulled up under him. Even at this point, he can put little or no weight on it, and has a hefty limp. Since it's at a joint, I wasn't sure how to split it or help it heal. Reading up, I see that it can take 6 weeks for a broken bone to heal.
What more should I be doing for him? We are remodeling our kitchen, so on days it's not raining, I put him in a bin with some shavings outside so the chaos and noise won't bother him. On rainy days, he's stuck with it tho. I'm just not sure if I'm doing right by him. He is alert, bright eyed and eating and drinking fine.
Any thoughts?
