Baby with broken leg

[WoDia]

Thanks for the additional information. We're still keeping him (or her) warm & giving him a lot of attention. He's eating and doesn't seem too distressed. We're hoping for a sprain, not a break b/c I'm assuming that we wouldn't need to splint/set bones with a sprain. Or am I wrong about that?

I don’t usually splint a sprain. A warm and quiet hospital box, a lot of rest, with easy access to food and water is what works best for my chickens. I hope you can determine for sure whether it’s a break or sprain. Is the leg dangling at all? Is it functional? Is he placing any pressure on it (trying to stand and walk on it)? Please continue to update us with how he’s doing. Very lucky little chick to have you.

 

[cundare]

>A warm and quiet hospital box, a lot of rest, with easy access to food and water

We're doing all that, in addition to giving him a lot of hands-on TLC. He (or she) enjoys sitting on our chests, and sends out an endless, piercing distress chirp when we leave the room.

Actually, it's a bit exhausting! Like having a newborn. But we're doing our best for the poor little thing.

He tries to stand on the leg, but no dice. It is dangling. Is that bad?

 

[cundare]

Here's a video of little "Hopalong".

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1d5IzJq-PQ7KzyQy622qjixd5kaBU9Yg_?usp=sharing

Today he was trying to lift his leg with his beak. It's sad. The hen that we think might be his mother also made an appearance in our yard with 7 other brand-new chicks. We didn't bring him out, though, for fear that she, like the other two chick-laden hens, might attack him. And she took off again as soon as her babies had done eating.

 

[WoDia]

>A warm and quiet hospital box, a lot of rest, with easy access to food and water

We're doing all that, in addition to giving him a lot of hands-on TLC. He (or she) enjoys sitting on our chests, and sends out an endless, piercing distress chirp when we leave the room.

Actually, it's a bit exhausting! Like having a newborn. But we're doing our best for the poor little thing.

He tries to stand on the leg, but no dice. It is dangling. Is that bad?

After seeing your video, it looks like he’s getting around pretty well. It’s really hard to tell whether it’s broken. A severe sprain could feel just as painful for him. I think you’re doing a good job with his care. If I had to guess (from watching the video), it appears to be a sprain. The leg doesn’t look too bad. If he’s able to move it some, that’s also a positive sign. It doesn’t seem to be slowing him down very much.

 

[SmiYa0126]

Great job !

 

[cundare]

It's getting burdensome. If we leave him alone for five minutes, he starts freaking out. How do these mama birds do it when they have 5 or 10 chicks to take care of?

Today, I spotted another baby bird in the yard about the same size as this one. I think the same hen must have left this one here, too. She has a habit of taking off across the street, and just expecting all the babies to follow her. Those that don't, I guess, get left behind.

"Wild Kingdom," indeed!

Well, one way or the other, Cassidy is gonna be the best-fed baby bird on the block. He's getting mangoes fresh off the tree, cooked sweet potatoes, and the occasional live meal worm (not too many), as well as the usual cracked corn, etc. It's funny to watch him wrestle down a meal worm. I was initially concerned that he might choke on it, but despite being a little big for him to handle, he's relentless.

Seriously, in a neighborhod filled with predators (especially cars and kids carrying around fighting birds), we just wanna give him a chance at having a normal bird's life. Jury's still out on that, but if we can, we will.

 

[SmiYa0126]

Leave a small stuffy or a mirror with him, it will help a lot. If you can get a friend or two, the same age that would help too.

 

[cundare]

It's getting burdensome. If we leave him alone for five minutes, he starts freaking out. How do these mama birds do it when they have 5 or 10 chicks to take care of?

Today, I spotted another baby bird in the yard about the same size as this one. I think the same hen must have left this one here, too. She has a habit of taking off across the street, just expecting all the babies to follow her. Those that don't keep up get left behind.

"Wild Kingdom," indeed -- more like "Mommie Dearest"!

Well, one way or the other, Cassidy is gonna be the best-fed baby bird on the block. He's getting mangoes fresh off the tree, cooked sweet potatoes, and the occasional live meal worm (not too many), as well as the usual cracked corn, etc. It's funny to watch him wrestle down a meal worm. I was initially concerned that he might choke, but despite the worm being a little big for him to handle, he's relentless. I almost feel sorry for the worm!

Seriously, in a neighborhod filled with predators (especially cars and kids carrying fighting birds looking for roosters to capture), we just wanna give him a chance at having a normal life. Jury's still out on that, but we're giving it our best shot.

 

[cundare]

After 4 days, the little guy still doesn't put weight on the bad leg and it seems like he can't move his toes. He basically hops on one leg. There may be a dark spot -- blood? -- on the bad leg.

I hope we're doing the right thing not splinting. But to be honest, I don't know if we'd even be able to do that without hurting him worse.

His mother (our best guess) is now coming back into the yard to steal food from our birds, with 7 other chicks in tow. We thought about putting him out when she's here to see if they recognize each other, but my gut feeling is that there's no scenario in which that turns out well.

 

[cundare]

He may be walking just a tiny bit better today. About 5 days since the injury...