Broken Femur Neck - please help me decide what to do?

[ten chicks]

Here's an update on Houdini's progress. She's somewhat better, but there hasn't been much change. Still eating, drinking, panting, cheebling. She's better after her pain meds, worse as the day wears on. We've asked for (and received) copies of her x-rays and the reading report from the consulting veterinairan in California who read the x-rays. It's a bad break and the bone has displaced slightly toward her head. I'm not feeling as optimistic as I was. Both vets think she needs surgery to survive, and we simply cannot justify the cost. It's not over yet - she's still fighting to heal and we are tending her as carefully as we can. Martha & Theresa

Is the break up near the hip joint? The only way i can see to immobilize this is to wrap around body(hip joint,fermur)coming under body and around fermur(like a figure 8). Use vet wrap if you can purchase some. She will have a limp,but this should not effect her quality of life. Slight modifications to living environment(lower roosts,etc)to accommodate her.

 

[Marthamae21]

Hi all - today is a bit more of the same for Houdini. We gave her a bottom-bath, badly needed from before the break, which she took in stride, adn then gently blew her feathers dry, which she liked. She's tucked herself into the corner of her crate with her head facing away from everyone, which I don't like. She's not as receptive to the foods we're giving her. Medicating her is hard; she fights as strongly as she can. She is still eating and drinking though (loves her clover and blueberries), and is pooping normally. Sometimes she'll stand on that leg.

Ten Chicks, I am gong to try a wrap like the one you described tomorrow. wish me luck, everyone. Martha & Theresa

 

[chooks4life]

If she can put weight down at all on it, that's hopeful, thought I would worry about the pain meds leading her to do damaging things because she can't feel it. Some of the worst injuries occur after pain meds have removed sensation, because pain is our warning of damage.

Have you been bringing her out into the sunshine and to see the other poultry? They need to remember what they have to look forward to, it stimulates them and this inspires a healthy endocrinal response. Staring at four walls daily can be fatal since it can depress them. Some white blood cells have endocrinal receptors and transmitters and link our immune system to our hormonal system. If we're depressed we don't heal as well.

Vitamin D is vital to healing many things and regulating hormones. Sunshine is especially important to invalids and babies. With my special needs animals, I would make a little outside enclosure for sunbathing etc. For her I'd make it as small as the one she's in now, to allow her to get sun and grass and socializing if she's keen, while remaining protected from being bullied or overexerting herself.

Another thing to consider is that we run on direct current, as do animals and plants; it's the natural electrical field of the earth; but our houses run on alternating current, which disrupts the electrical charges between our every cell, and can cause or contribute to a lot of illness especially in those with electrical sensitivity syndrome. But even those that are not sensitive don't thrive when constantly being interfered with by AC. This is very simply solved by putting bare feet on the dirt or grass for even a short while. The static electricity that's built up in her body will discharge and she'll feel a lot better pretty much instantly if my experiences with damaged or ill animals are anything to go by. It's a great remedy for shock, too, though like many natural treatments it seems too simple to work.

Honey, raw/unpasteurized, is also great for shock, illness, injury, (convalescence) and healing. Any added to her diet would probably cheer her up a fair bit. It is baby food after all, and that's what most animals revert to needing once they're badly hurt enough or ill enough. When I say 'baby food' I just mean something easily digested and natural, that comes with a large spectrum of vitamins, minerals, protein, enzymes, probiotics, etc, all the things babies and convalescents need to make it through.

Recent studies found every single tissue in the human body has vitamin D receptors, even bones and organs, which is interesting given they're not exposed to sunlight as readily as skin. Helps explain why chickens tend to spend so much time sunbathing even when they don't have lice, which was the previous explanation for why they do it. She could probably really do with some sunshine if she hasn't been getting any.

Are you able to get comfrey where you are? It's also known as 'knit bone' because even a poultice of it is scientifically proven to help bones grow very quickly back together. Its active properties include Allantoin, which promotes granulation and the growth of new epithelial cells, and Cholin, which is a powerful healing agent that speeds formulation of new bone cells while supporting and increasing the bodies' natural healing processes. There are different ways to apply it which all work; you can make a tea of the leaves and pour over a dressing of the broken bone area a few times a day, so the skin absorbs the active constituents. Or a poultice, just a wad of pulverized or fine cut leaves boiled for five minutes in a bit of flannel then applied while still warm. Comfrey grows as a weed in a lot of places but is very scarce in others. It's good animal and human fodder despite being listed as toxic in most places you'll see it named--- people confuse pretty different species of plants with one another and condemn the lot, lol!

Best wishes.

 

[Marthamae21]

Well, shame on me, I've not posted any more info about my chicken! Chooks4life, words cannot express how thankful I am for your last, most thoughtful post. Your advice was so helpful; we began letting her outside immediately upon reading what you said about vitamin D. What a huge difference it's made in her quality of life. It changed her from a hurt chicken into a chicken on the mend. I think the "earthing" helped too.

She of course has been demoted to bottom of pack because she has a limp, and I'm having to carefully watch the little shite who previously occupied that position (her name is Rue and she's another story) because Rue's taken to practically sitting on Houdini. But she's outside! and beaking the soil looking for tasties, and hanging around with her pals, and doing all things chickeny, including running away from us at some speed, despite obvious pain. Her limp seems to be improving, although I have yet to see her scratch at the soil. When she does that, we'll know we've turned a very good corner. She has finished her course of antibiotics, but we got a second filling of her pain medication so she's still taking that. I too worry that she'll do things she should not; I guess it's part of the risk we're taking with this.

We have to cage her to feed her, because she's bottom bird and the other hens try to steal her food, so she does have some protected time. We're covering the top of the cage and leaving her outside in the shade for this period, and she gets visits from the other hens. When she's out of the cage, she spends a lot of time sitting under the hydrangea. Oh, and she's begun to lose feathers; her appetite's fallen off a bit, which may mean she's been thrown into a moult by trauma.

I've got some comfrey now and am trying the tea approach, which she'd rather I didn't, but that's life. So, though long-term I think her prognosis may still be guarded, she's doing better than I thought she would, and we are glad she's still with us. Many thanks to all of you who helped me stay the course! I'll post again as things progress.
Martha and Theresa

 

[chooks4life]

Quote: Awesome, it's great to hear that! Thanks for the update. I hope she continues to mend. Best wishes to you and yours.