Bird and I broke our legs the same week!

[OccamsTazer]

I broke my ankle (again!) a couple days ago. Goo.
This morning I went out to feed and one of my youngish EE's had SOMEHOW caught her toe in a crevice on the perch. So when she tried to hop down, she hung herself by the toe...
I did not get out there until around 8am, so you can imagine that the poor girl had been hanging there for 2-3 hours

She has a wrecked toe, and unknown amounts of damage in the knee and hip

I straightened and taped the foot to an old credit card and bound the leg to her body with gauze.
Now I have a chicken in a cat carrier living in the house.

I've given her a bit of yogurt for good measure, but any other advice as to how to help her along is appreciated!

 

[threehorses]

OUCH! good healing to you!

On your EE, did you find any breaks in the actual bone of the leg? Or maybe just tears? If you found breaks, you will need to splint them with the same creativity as the foot. (good job on that by the way!)

Broken bones generally heal in birds in 10 days. Then it will take a few days for her to use the muscles again. Splint for 12 days by the way.

Make sure she eats and drinks. Monitor the leg for swelling a ssometimes bones get infected when they break. (I'm assuming it's not through the skin, yes?) Infections can be treated with penicillin injectable or orally if you need to but you shouldn't need to.

Because of her stress, I'd put a vitamin/mineral supplement and electrolytes in her water for a few days. It will help her stress and get her over the hanging experience.

Poor dears!!

Please update in *this* thread how she does as you'll have at least one subscriber looking for updates and offering to help.

 

[OccamsTazer]

Good idea on the vitamins, hadn't thought of that. Something like Pedialyte, or bird vits from feed and seed? She's eating like a pig, so all good there.
There are no bone protrusions through the skin, I think it may be more in the joints where something is jacked up. (I *hate* feeling over an injured animal to find the ouch! I know you've gotta, but I always hate hurting them more...)
Anyway, the long parts of the bone are fine, but all is not well in the joints. I'd almost rather deal with a clean break than a nasty ligament injury

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
Probably the feed and seed kind would be best, but if you have pedialyte today I'd give that til you get the other. I'm glad to hear she's eating! That's scary. I'm also glad to hear that the bone isn't protruding. She probably ripped a lot of stuff up in there struggling. That'll take a while to heal. I'd be tempted to actually let her have her credit-card foot down to allow her muscles to move on her leg so that she can still move them. But then of course keep her in a small area so she doesn't walk much. That way you'll eliminate a little extra time kept up and to help the muscles repair in their right positions. She probably won't use the leg anyway. But of course watch her and see what she does on it.

I know that when I've had a duck whose leg I had to put up against her body (broken upper leg bone) it took a lot more long for her to walk normally from the leg being up against her, and she didn't have any muscle injuries, and the bone was healed. Much less with. So it's a thought.

I hope your leg is doing well, too!

 

[OccamsTazer]

Bird is up and walking! I was mid bandage change when she flopped off my lap and limp-scampered away, so I put her back in the pen, and she seems fine, just moving a lil slow. I'm sure the motion and excercise will be good for her.
Also, I got my xrays back, and I'm not broken either it seems! The stuff they saw the first time was debris from old breaks.
So yay!

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
Just limit the first girl's area for a week, make sure she doesn't over do it (quite like humans do) but good news ALL around!! Congrats!