baby roo w/ broken leg?16weeks old and now another with the same leg

[missfitfarm]

this morning when i went out to feed i noticed one of my roosters could not walk he was fine yesterday and was crowing this morning when i opened the door everyone ran out except for him he just sat there and tried to hobble around to get outside in the pen with the others he tried to go down the ramp but could not put any pressure on his leg he just flapped his wings and hobbled down chirping in pain once outside he made his way to a spot and leyed down all day i did see him try to walk a few times but couldnt he is eating and drinking i put his own boowls near him but he somehow made it over to the big feeder and ate from there he is also pecking around for bugs and such while laying down it seems he is only in pain when he puts weight on his legg he cannot even stand up straight he stays crouched a little to avoid pressure should i splint his legg? and if so how do i do it>> he also made his way back up the ramp tonight when i got home he was in with the rest of them i know he didnt fall off the roost because they still sleep all huddled up with mom in a nest type box in thier house he does jump up on the wall thing and his waterer he could have hurt it jumping down he is breathing fine the only time he is in pain is when he trys to put weight on the legg please help im not sure how to wrap his leg now another chick has same injury and i know how it happened now read reply below

 

[davecash]

try some surgical tape and a popsickel stick

 

[justusnak]

I would try to seperate him from the rest...for a few days at least. Get popsicle sticks, and wrap them in cotton so they dont irritate the leg. Then wrap it in some gause. Also....for the pain, give him a little aspirin in his water. Keep him settled, and let him get used to the splint for a few days. Good luck, and keep us posted.

 

[missfitfarm]

i will try that but wear do i put it should i straighten his leg and tape it to the stick? or how????? ive never splinted a chicken before should i tape it to the back or front of his leg??

 

[homecatmom]

I read on another list that a woman made a splint for one of her birds from a tampon tube that she cut down to size and cut open on the side. That way she could put cotton squares inside to cushion the leg in the tube. One of the more experienced hen mommys may have a better idea.

 

[Judymae]

I wouldn't tape it to his leg. I would use two popsicle sticks and wrap the tape around those with his leg in between them. I've never done it before so I'm not exactly sure. Good luck!

 

[missfitfarm]

when i seperate him he just yells for lack of a better word for the others and they do the same for him today he was laying outside in his pen and nobody was picking on him at all acually they seemed to take turns laying next to him i would love to be able to let him stay with the other little ones so not to stress him out any more if possible and i dont want any fighting if i seperate and then put him back with the others is it possible to splint it and leave him with the others and watch him i tried to leave him in the chicken house today and let the others out but the otherrs stood on the ramp and chirped their heads of outside the door and the injured one kept trying to jump up to see them out the window which only caused him more pain there are only 4 of them in a very large pen! let me know

 

[waterfowlrescue]

depending on where his break is you can just tape the leg to his body. The most important thing to remember if you are trying to immobilize a fracture is to stop movement on the joint above and the joint below the break. If your not doing it properly its very likely not going to hold.

If you have a break in the femur you can have it surgically pinned or you can tape leg to body and crate to limit movement.

If you think the fracture is in the tibia you can use the splint on any break and the leg taped to body ONLY on mid shaft fractures.

If the break is in the metatarsus area that is generally easily externally splinted and I dont recommend the leg to the body taping.

Anything in the metacarpels needs support but no heavy splinting.

Something to keep on hand which I find very usefull is alumafoam finger splints. I get them off ebay much cheaper than i can buy them in the stores.

http://www.first-aid-product.com/industrial/M-5008t.gif

They are already padded and you can bend them to fit the curve of the leg and they resist soiling. One on back, one on front and you secure to body. Great for small legged birds like chickens and ducks.

Anytime you have an injury and your not sure where its coming from its a good idea to crate your bird and restrict its movement.

 

[dlhunicorn]

in addition to the excellent advice in the last post I just wish to add to support to the many posters which have advised you to separate this bird and restrict its ability to move around...

 

[missfitfarm]

well i dont know where the break is my husband seems to think it is at the bend part of the leg im sorry im not sure what this area is called but when you are holding him his leg is just hanging down and he can not walk on it at all i thought it was the foot because he seemed to try and walk on it and end up just kind of draging it
i do know how it happened though because today another chick has hurt her leg the exact same injury and the same legg they were going up the ramp to go in and everyone was of course trying to go up at once there was is a little 2 inch gap between the ramp and the wall of the pen and i saw her left leg slip off the edge of the ramp and into the little gap and then she started hobbling and she can not walk on her left leg either the gap was not tight so her leg wasnt stuck but obviuosly it is broken so now i have 2 little chicks with possible broken legs or foot and i cannot afford to take them to the vet for xrays at 150 per bird and my vet dosnt even treat chickens maybe i should splint the whole leg from the top to the foot since i do not know where the break is i am starting to thnk this whole chicken thing isnt for me i falling apart here i can not beleive i have 2 birds with the exact same injury