1 1/2 year old Silkie Hen holding her leg out-Help

[Love my Critters!]

She has been holding her left leg straight out to the side (kind of in front) for 5 days now. I have had her inside resting, but it is not getting better. She could have been injured by a goat, but I have checked her over and I can not find any physical signs of injury. I can't feel any broken bones and her leg will bend but she holds it straight out. She is eating and drinking. She can not walk with out wabbling and then ususally she falls over. When she does it takes her a while to get right side up again. I don't want to cull her, but I don't want her suffering. Should I tape the legs like a spraddle leg and see if that helps or will it cause more problems? I don't know what to do.... how long should I wait for her to improve? Can anyone please give me any suggestions on what to do?
Thank you!

 

[dlhunicorn]

slipped tendon? You will need an avian vet if it is... there is an op they can do for it but not all are familiar with the procedure (A member here in CA had this with a chick and the vet (worked with emus alot) did it in less than a half hour without anaethesia she reported > it was also not exorbitantly expensive)... this was quite some time ago perhaps you can find the thread) ... there are some who have managed to "slip" the tendon back in place but this is usually only temporary.

 

[Love my Critters!]

Well, if that is what it is, we are out of luck. There is not an avian vet anywhere close to here. Is there a way I can "check" for that?

 

[dlhunicorn]

I have not had to deal with this problem myself (just LOTS of posts and also the vet articles on it)... use the search engine here for "slipped tendon" and be sure to set to search for that term within the posts (not just the subject line)... it has been posted on many times and you will find the instructions for how to feel for it and try to slip back in place (I suppose you could try bandaging after ) ... I recall there sometimes being nutritional/vit deficiencies sometimes associated with this.... I have to take my poor doggy out (he can NOT wait and is whining by the door ) but will have a look through my articles on that for you (will not "cure" per se but IF involved will be needed in addition to any therapeutic measures)