Broken leg due to an attack. Can she be saved...

[mustangsaguaro]

I have a broody hen that was attacked last night and survived surprisingly. Reason why I heard the ruckus is because she was out somewhat in the open and not in the coop. Very close to the house. Either a coyote got to her or a bobcat. Didn't see what got her but boy I heard it. Being that it's the middle of the night it's rather hard for me to kill her and clean her in the dark. I have her resting as comfortably as possible in the coop which is much safer. I'd like to try and save her but not sure if trying to splint a broken leg is worth saving. I'm honestly not sure if she will survive the night. I think it is a broken leg because the one leg is dangling. Plus not knowing where the break is at would be difficult. I think at this point and time best thing would be to put her down. Has anyone ever saved a hen w/ a broken leg w/o having to take them to a vet. If so what did you do? To make matters worse I have never had to kill one of my chickens yet plus I don't have any knives that are sharp enough. I know some people just break their necks. I'm afraid if I do that I might not do it quick enough. At least w/ a knife I feel it would be quick.

Any help suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Judy]

If you put her down, there are several methods people use. I think the trick is to do it quickly, and your methods should work fine.

But if you want to try to save her, this is a good reference for treating many foot or leg problems:

https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry

 

[swtjuly6]

One of my chickens broke her let by getting it stuck in the fence. It dangled too. So not knowing where the brake was I just made a sling out of a old tee shirt. I cut it in a long strip and cut two holes out for her legs and tied it to a stick and just let her hand there on it for about three weeks and now she walks like nothing happened. I put the stick on top of a cardboard box and cut slits in it so I could slide a piece of plastic in it to sit her food and water on. She did not mind it much. Here is a picture of what we did.

 

[flewdacoop]