Broken/hurt leg?

[schnebbles]

Hi -

I have a bantam cochin who is about 5 months old. She is acting strange, not really walking much. I noticed the other night (2 nights ago) that something seemed odd, but I watched her for quite a while and decided she must have been ok. That was stupid because when I first noticed it was because she almost did a somersault. Of course, now I realize something was worse than I thought. I had looked at her legs and should have bathed her b/c her feathers were a little pooey.

Tonight I was out there and feeding mealworms and noticed she was over alone kind of sitting picking grass. I brought her in and gave her a bath, there was a lot of dried poop. Got it all out (all this with no fuss from a girl who usually doesn't let me catch her very easily) blow dried her for a little bit because it's getting chilly out and she still just wasn't really moving around. She'd stay where I put her.

She is alert, ate a few mealworms and was eating food and drank water. I feel horrible that I didn't realize the other night she was more serious.

I guess the poop was from her not standing right when she went so it stuck. I was thinking maybe that's why she wasn't walking right but other way around.

She is in the house in a dog carrier for now. I looked very closely and felt her legs, I think it's her left leg because she was kind of standing on the right one and was like trying to pick the left one up as if she was going to maybe scratch her head. she moved a couple feet while I had her in the bathroom and has been getting along outside but only because she has to.

Nothing got her, her legs look ok and feel ok, but I don't know. Any ideas? Would I know if it was broken? I turned her upside down so I could see well.

thank you

 

[azygous]

I sympathize with you because I have the same thing going on with my big Brahma rooster. He won't walk because his right leg hurts him too much to even stand. And, yes, he has a problem with poopy feathers because he is lying down and pooping where he is lying.

But here's what I noticed today. The sore leg is discolored a sickly shade of green. Someone speculated it may be bruised. So you might take another good look at your Cochin's legs and feet, spreading apart the feathers on both so as to compare them.

It's possible we both have chickens who have broken legs, but darned if I can tell. I do know my rooster can stand so the leg will still support his weight. Also, if there was a break, there should be swelling at the site of the break. So feel very carefully for any swelling.

I think all we can do is keep our chickens comfortable, giving baby aspirin for the pain, and wait for them to heal.

 

[schnebbles]

Penny can stand too but apparently it isn't comfortable. I looked again a while ago and both legs looked yellow. I'll look again probably tomorrow and see if I see any discoloration. I didn't notice swelling. She can use the foot to grip a little, I'm sure it hurts though. I feel bad messing with her too much so I'll let her sleep before I bother her again.

How would I give baby aspirin and how much? She's not very big! I have some, would I crush it and put it in a syringe with water? Her water has vitamins and a little ACV.

She pooped while I was holding her and it went all over her feathers. I feel so bad. I thought about bruise or sprain too. I hope that's all it is. I'm worried about her.

 

[azygous]

I know you're worried, and part of that is the helplessness we feel because we don't know what to do.

There are two ways to give pills that I like. To give aspirin, I take a half a baby aspirin and dissolve it in a teaspoon of Gatoraid. Just let Penny slurp it up with her beak. You may need to dip her beak in it to give her a taste, but once she tastes how good it is, she'll suck it right up.

The way I give antibiotic pills is to break open the capsule and fold the contents into a tablespoon of peanut butter. My rooster, his name is Penny, too, by the way, or it was before I had to change it to Penrod when he turned out to be a roo, adores peanut butter and most chickens do. You may end up having to give your Penny antibiotics before this thing is over.

For Penny, you could probably just go ahead and give her half a baby aspirin, too. I am giving Penrod aspirin every four hours during waking hours. I think I will give him a whole baby aspirin because he seems to be in so much pain and the half aspirin isn't doing the job.

 

[schnebbles]

It's so strange. I see nothing at all. I felt the tendons because someone said they slip but they felt ok. She just falls if she tries standing. I'm taking her to the vet in the morning. She doesn't act like she is in pain though.

Funny about the names!

I hope it's not Mareks. Reading on that and it has me wondering. Her poos are runny and noisy.