Broken leg? Sprain? How to tell

[Chold05]

I just went out to the coop and my 6 month old didn’t greet me. She was laying down but did eventually move when I picked her up.

She’s limping and holding her leg up.

The vet is closed today. And I’m supposed to go out of town tomorrow evening!

Any advice on how to tell if it’s broken/vs sprained? It seems a little swollen but I’m not sure what else to look for. I can move her upper leg and straighten it. Straightening it seems to make her uncomfortable. Her toes all seem fine.

Edit to add: photos and it’s her right leg

Any help is appreciated!

 

[mama23]

Update: she stopped limping after about a day. She appeared to be fine. I couldn’t feel anything broken after multiple exams…. It’s now a few weeks later and although she’s not limping it seems like she’s slightly favoring the other leg. It’s difficult to tell if there’s any swelling. I would say maybe some, but nothing super noticeable.

I noticed this soft squishy lump that wasn’t there before?

Also, she’s getting new feathers on the “injured” leg and not the other one.

Thoughts?

I’m dealing with this right now. Couldn’t find my hen that always comes when I call her name. I found her sitting on hay looking like something was wrong but didn’t get up to greet me. When I sat down she hopped over and that’s when I realized it was her leg. I brought her in my house in a cage and gave her mash. Of course it’s a Saturday and no one open. I’m going to rest her today and see if she’s better in the morning. One of our goats broke his leg with a clean break a few years back and it was dangling. She’s not like that. She holds her foot up to body and can stand on the other leg fine. This same hen did what your hen is doing in pic once where it’s just barely off ground and she was fine next morning.

I see your little pouch of swelling. I may soak my hens leg in apple cider vinegar. It takes out inflammation. You could try that as well. Take brown paper bag and soak it in acv. Hold onto her leg while sticking in more acv for 30 min. I did this myself with a third degree sprain at the advice of an elderly woman and I was walking after.

Update:
Within hours of soaking her leg for 20 min she was standing on her leg and wanting out. Took her to the barn and she was walking with slight limp. Highly recommend acv soaks.

 

[coach723]

Sprains and strains are not uncommon, from landing wonky when jumping or getting a leg hung up somewhere. I will attach a splinting manual that explains how to examine for a fracture, I would not splint unless you are sure there is a fracture. Otherwise I would limit her activity by crating her in the run with the others, so they can still all see each other, that is less stressful. If needed you can use a chicken sling for periods to let her take the weight off and rest it, you need to supervise that, sometimes they freak out and try to get out and can injure themselves. Images below for examples. If needed, warm epsom salt soaks can help with pain and swelling, make sure she's completely dry after. Sprains and strains can sometimes take weeks to months to completely resolve, it's hard to predict. Once she can get around pretty normally, get on the roosts, not be at risk of being hurt by the others, then I'd let her back with the flock, even if there is a slight limp. Judgement call for you, based on how she's doing.

 

[RcoM]

That’s really helpful and yes I think that would help a lot. I’ll check on her again now. I used waterproof cushy tape but I’ll check for swelling etc.

 

[coach723]

The first thing to do is to find out if it IS in fact Marek's, or not. The mind jumps there first, but there are many things that can look like Marek's and are not. Have you ever had Marek's confirmed in your flock before? If you lose her, or cull her, I highly recommend that you contact your state poultry lab and have a necropsy done. Links below to resources. In many states it's quite reasonable, call yours for particulars. If they are close enough,sd you can drop off a live bird and they will do the rest. If she's culled, refrigerate, don't freeze the body. If you have never had Marek's diagnosed in your flock before this is the best next move. Then you know for sure if the others have been exposed and can make reasonable decisions going forward. Marek's in many cases is manageable, it just depends on your expectations of chicken keeping. But find out for sure before assuming anything. I, and many others here, have Marek's in our flocks, and are still moving forward and keeping chickens.

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/nahln/downloads/all_nahln_lab_list.pdf

https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html

 

[coach723]

Without a necropsy, there is no way to know what happened. There are other virus's that can affect chickens. Lymphoid leukosis is known to often mimic the symptoms of Marek's, among other things. There are a lot of things that can make them sick and die. The vaccine does not cause them to have Marek's, but it can mask symptoms and prevent tumors and make it hard to know. Marek's is very contagious and can travel miles on the wind in feather dander and dust, it can be carrried from place to place on shoes, clothing, equipment, so separate pens is not a guarantee of no spread. That is why a necropsy to confirm or rule it out is the best way. If one bird is positive for it, then they have all been exposed. I would not rehome a bird from your flock, any bird, unless you know for sure and disclose that you have Marek's in your flock, or at very least that you suspect you do. Without necropsy, all you can do is wait and see if any other birds show any signs. There are places that can test a sample from a live bird, but very few, link to one below if you'd rather go that route. It requires a small blood sample which you can get from a toenail, one resource I know of for that is linked below, you can contact them for specifics, I believe they will ship you the supplies, you ship back the sample.
https://www.vetdna.com/application/forms/aviansubmittalform.pdf

This thread discusses testing, it's older, pricing mentioned is likely inaccurate:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/mareks-testing-in-living-birds.1206105/

This is an article on Marek's, says necropsy is the best way, to look for the tumors:
https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poul...try?autoredirectid=16879&autoredirectid=12051

 

[Chold05]

Update: she stopped limping after about a day. She appeared to be fine. I couldn’t feel anything broken after multiple exams…. It’s now a few weeks later and although she’s not limping it seems like she’s slightly favoring the other leg. It’s difficult to tell if there’s any swelling. I would say maybe some, but nothing super noticeable.

I noticed this soft squishy lump that wasn’t there before?

Also, she’s getting new feathers on the “injured” leg and not the other one.

Thoughts?

 

[Chold05]

I’m dealing with this right now. Couldn’t find my hen that always comes when I call her name. I found her sitting on hay looking like something was wrong but didn’t get up to greet me. When I sat down she hopped over and that’s when I realized it was her leg. I brought her in my house in a cage and gave her mash. Of course it’s a Saturday and no one open. I’m going to rest her today and see if she’s better in the morning. One of our goats broke his leg with a clean break a few years back and it was dangling. She’s not like that. She holds her foot up to body and can stand on the other leg fine. This same hen did what your hen is doing in pic once where it’s just barely off ground and she was fine next morning.

I see your little pouch of swelling. I may soak my hens leg in apple cider vinegar. It takes out inflammation. You could try that as well. Take brown paper bag and soak it in acv. Hold onto her leg while sticking in more acv for 30 min. I did this myself with a third degree sprain at the advice of an elderly woman and I was walking after.

Update:
Within hours of soaking her leg for 20 min she was standing on her leg and wanting out. Took her to the barn and she was walking with slight limp. Highly recommend acv soaks.

I’m so glad to hear that helped! I will try it with my hen tomorrow.

 

[McChooky]

Sprains and strains are not uncommon, from landing wonky when jumping or getting a leg hung up somewhere. I will attach a splinting manual that explains how to examine for a fracture, I would not splint unless you are sure there is a fracture. Otherwise I would limit her activity by crating her in the run with the others, so they can still all see each other, that is less stressful. If needed you can use a chicken sling for periods to let her take the weight off and rest it, you need to supervise that, sometimes they freak out and try to get out and can injure themselves. Images below for examples. If needed, warm epsom salt soaks can help with pain and swelling, make sure she's completely dry after. Sprains and strains can sometimes take weeks to months to completely resolve, it's hard to predict. Once she can get around pretty normally, get on the roosts, not be at risk of being hurt by the others, then I'd let her back with the flock, even if there is a slight limp. Judgement call for you, based on how she's doing.
View attachment 3665580

View attachment 3665582
View attachment 3665584
View attachment 3665585

Yesterday I ran outside when I heard a commotion and witnessed one of my hens fly out of the woods and hit the side of the house (its close to the hill) She landed in a bed of leaves. I got a brief glimpse of what appeared to be a bob cat so I hurried and scooped her up before locking the rest up.I couldn't find any injuries or a breaks but she won't put any weight on one leg so I'm going to try soaking her leg and making a sling!Thanks for all the photo's and the pdf filles!Wishing you a happy thanksgiving!

 

[RcoM]

I’m dealing with an issue just discovered with my 9 week old pullet.
I read all I could and the examined her. It took a few up close observations to figure it out.
I thought the problem was broken foot and splinted it. Seems this was only part of it.
Hoping she’d walk better than she did afterwards. Then noticed the 3rd toe hangs limp/ twisted and so she has no balance. I’ll make a chicken shoe tomorrow
I’ll post photos for reference. I hope the poor girl heals ok.
My only question is why does she also drag a wing? Am I dealing with more injury still? Or is it as a balance aid/crutch?
I have no idea what she did to cause all this!!