12 week old with injured leg - Page 2 VERY SICK CHICK

[HCFarms96]

Last night my 12 week old RIR got her leg stuck in the back of a chair. It was very dark, so when I went to close the chickens in for the night, I did not notice. She was there all night, hanging by her foot! She is still alive but very weak and her leg is skinned up and bloody. We have her separate from the others with food and water. She ate and drink a tiny bit, but not much.
I have no idea what to do! I've never had an injured chicken before.

 

[J-Sanders]

Keep up the TLC and if necessary apply some vetericyn spray to the leg to inhibit infection. She should perk up in a couple of days. One question, why is there a chair there?

Jim

 

[HCFarms96]

Okay, thanks. Should I wrap it with Vet Wrap to keep it clean or anything?
It's an Adirondack chair that Mom had beside the coop because there is a nice view there or something. It was there long before we turned the shed into a chicken coop. The girls never really bothered it too much before this. We're going to move it, though. No one sits in it, anyways

 

[J-Sanders]

No need for the vet wrap. Just spray and watch for signs of swelling or hot skin. Both of which are signs of infection. You could administer a antibiotic in her water but then you would have to start a regimen to replace her gut flora. Best to watch and see first.

Jim

 

[leadwolf1]

I would put her in a safe, dry, quiet, darkened, comfy place to recover. She may be in shock from her ordeal and needs time to come out of it. Leave her alone as much as possible for 24 hours, after her leg is tended to. I like to use neosporin, it is much cheaper then vetericyn and easier to obtain. You can use the generic and make sure that it doesn't have pain killer in it.

You can also dissolve a baby aspirin in her water and it could give her some pain relief. Check her a couple times during the day, making sure that she has plenty of food and water if she wants it. Some electrolytes and/or vitamins will help her come around faster.

My chickens love to sit in any chair that they can find

Good luck and keep us posted on her recovery!

 

[HCFarms96]

The leg that was caught seems to be okay, except some scrapes. I cleaned the dried blood off with warm water, and put some tea tree oil on it. It seems it will be fine. She is moving around more now, and does not seem to be nearly as weak. But she has the toes on her other foot all curled up, and won't uncurl them. What now?

 

[leadwolf1]

I would still follow my earlier advice. She probably did some ligament damage and it's causing the toes to curl. She needs time to relax and heal. There is probably some bruising and swelling to the soft tissue that you can't see but, is causing her toes to curl.

 

[HCFarms96]

Okay. But how could she have done ligament damage when that leg was not even caught in anything?

 

[leadwolf1]

She was more than likely kicking and turning/twisting, all night long trying to get loose. I'm surprised that she didn't do more damage to herself.

 

[HCFarms96]

She uncurled her foot this morning! She keeps in uncurled most of the time but does curl it up every once in awhile. I'm just letting her rest, and giving her some extra TLC She was sitting on my lap falling asleep while I did my school