Broken cockrell's leg already splinted, but blisters?!?

[Eggcessive]

Are you seeing movement of the leg bone where the scrape or ring is around the leg? It may well be broken, and the blisters could be related to the splinting. Sometimes when splinting is done, the vet wrap or tape becomes too tight, and the circulation is interrupted. Can you try to get an X-ray? If you resilient, be sure to pad it well. Check the circulation. I would be tempted to leave it off. There have been a lot of leg and foot damage or amputations on legs that have been splinted incorrectly.

 

[Goldwingnut]

Yes, it is broken. No X-Ray is necessary to prove that to me. Bones don't 'hinge" between joints.

And we have elected to leave the splint off.

Was it too tight? Maybe... I would have said no, "it's 100% fine" but that was BEFORE the blisters arrived. I'm less sure about that now. I'd STILL say it was fine
I just wouldn't bet the farm on it.

I soaked the little guy's leg in warm water infused with Epson Salt for a few minutes this morning, and my wife did some more Neosporin. I will repeat the treatment this evening.

Sadly, I am a bit less optimistic about his recovery today. Just "steeling myself" a little, I think. I'm a big softie at heart.

I don't have access to a vet that does birds. So there's that.

We shall see....

 

[Eggcessive]

If you think that you could splint it with a lot of padding you might want to make one that could be removed occasionally to check the wound and circulation. Actually lower leg fractures have a better chance of healing than upper or thigh injuries. Leave the splint in place or limit his activity for 3 weeks.

 

[Goldwingnut]

Thank you. We have some stuff to do that with. (I know. I know. With which to to that.)

I'm anxious to get home to see how he's doing.

(It's a grandpa-ing day, and we are at my son's farm, tending to 5 young-uns with various stages of the stomach flu. My daughter-in-law is a school teacher. And my son has a broken spray rig he's working on, so we're away 'til school's out.)

I hope my young roo's at least not worse.

 

[Goldwingnut]

My sick little guy's Mama, Madame Hairy-ette, now has some spots on her legs. I don't know what to make of them. There's no blisters, and as far as I know, there hasn't been an injury.

Is this Bumblefoot, just at an earlier stage?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

What are your temperatures like?

Can you post photos of housing - coop/run - where the chickens are kept?

Do you have any rats?

 

[Eggcessive]

No bumblefoot, but I would investigate possible rat bites or pecking injuries.

 

[Goldwingnut]

What are your temperatures like?

Can you post photos of housing - coop/run - where the chickens are kept?

Do you have any rats?

Temps are all over the place. We hit 86° F @2PM yesterday, and by 6AM this morning 21° F.

Yes. A 65° F drop in 16 hours.

CRAZY!

One windy, HORRIBLLY cold day I let them out and got one hen and my older Rooster (who recently became UNalived by a raptor) frostbitten combs and wattles. I don't let them out of their semi cozy digs when it's brutal like that any more. It was a Rookie mistake.

But otherwise, its been a fairly normal February for North Central Oklahoma.

Rats? Miss Kitty catches rats regularly. (But See Below)

My "coop" is actually a chicken tractor I used to drag around daily--during the time my Bermuda Grass was green and may do so again.

When winter came, I staked it down and put up a 4 foot high Premiere 1 Electric Fence around the area, to serve as a "run". But when it's decent out, and especially if I'm around (with a rifle handy). I just let them free range.

The floor is dirt, and I spread out a little hay for bedding. I put up panels for rain and wind protection, and plan to remove them in the spring.

I've currently got 6 hens only in there, since my broken rooster is isolated. I believe it's floor is 6 X 10 feet. It's a Suskovich style Chicken tractor, except enclosed.

I have seen mice in there, several times. As stated, Miss Kitty catches Rats, BUT... when I've observed her hunting, it isn't around the coop. And she has access to the coop anyways, when they're out free ranging....just not at night. I don't 100% trust her not to suddenly decide a hen looks yummy, although they're all adults @ one year old next Sunday. Miss Kitty doesn't show sighs of aggression with my birds. (Nor does my 89# GoldenDoodle, Mr Hobbs.)

She's an outdoor only cat that adopted us about 3 years ago.

But I'd DEFINITELY NOT rule out a rat getting in my coop. It's a dirt floor after all. And Mice, yes. For sure.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Temps are all over the place. We hit 86° F @2PM yesterday, and by 6AM this morning 21° F.

Yes. A 65° F drop in 16 hours.

CRAZY!

One windy, HORRIBLLY cold day I let them out and got one hen and my older Rooster (who recently became UNalived by a raptor) frostbitten combs and wattles. I don't let them out of their semi cozy digs when it's brutal like that any more. It was a Rookie mistake.

But otherwise, its been a fairly normal February for North Central Oklahoma.

Rats? Miss Kitty catches rats regularly. (But See Below)

My "coop" is actually a chicken tractor I used to drag around daily--during the time my Bermuda Grass was green and may do so again.

When winter came, I staked it down and put up a 4 foot high Premiere 1 Electric Fence around the area, to serve as a "run". But when it's decent out, and especially if I'm around (with a rifle handy). I just let them free range.

The floor is dirt, and I spread out a little hay for bedding. I put up panels for rain and wind protection, and plan to remove them in the spring.

I've currently got 6 hens only in there, since my broken rooster is isolated. I believe it's floor is 6 X 10 feet. It's a Suskovich style Chicken tractor, except enclosed.

I have seen mice in there, several times. As stated, Miss Kitty catches Rats, BUT... when I've observed her hunting, it isn't around the coop. And she has access to the coop anyways, when they're out free ranging....just not at night. I don't 100% trust her not to suddenly decide a hen looks yummy, although they're all adults @ one year old next Sunday. Miss Kitty doesn't show sighs of aggression with my birds. (Nor does my 89# GoldenDoodle, Mr Hobbs.)

She's an outdoor only cat that adopted us about 3 years ago.

But I'd DEFINITELY NOT rule out a rat getting in my coop. It's a dirt floor after all. And Mice, yes. For sure.

If they are walking on top of the kennel, I'd cover it with something solid on top to avoid getting legs/feet hung.

The hens feet look like she's almost scraped them or got them caught in something. Usually wire it the culprit for scrapes. Could be another hen picking at her feet, but injury is most likely. This is why I asked about rats too, they can nibble on feet/legs.
For the hen, I'd clean the wounds with Chlorhexidine, then apply triple antibiotic ointment. Just look at the legs daily, clean as needed and dab on some ointment.

The rooster's feet - those lesions/blisters to me look like blisters from Frostbite. That's the reason I ask about temperatures. Seen lots of photos of blisters from Frostbite over the years here on BYC.
Reminds me of this recent one, the hen even broke her leg, got it caught in the door and was exposed to freezing temps overnight (unable to pull leg to body for warmth).
The hen will lose the foot of course and likely the leg will auto amputate to the place it was caught in the door.

Frostbite may not be the cause of the blisters in your situation. Could be a reaction to treatment/wrappings. Not sure how he broke the leg, he hit it on something, got caught or whatever. I had a hen fracture a leg by running into a fence, saw it happen, knew immediately it was probably broken. I've also seen a hen break a toe right in front of me, so chickens can do some damage to themselves at times.

I'd try to splint, but I'd also keep checking those blisters, they should pop on their own.
Keep a close eye on dressings/splints, etc. to make sure nothing is too tight. For me, I'd try just swabbing anything open/sores with Chlorhexidine, let it dry before you wrap. Keep everything under the wrappings dry. IF it gets worse, stop and rethink it.

I have Suskovich's book with his story and plans. Haven't made any of the tractors, but would like to have 1-2 someday, maybe have some meaties to raise or something...
Whew...sounds like work don't it