For newbies, anytime you encounter something wrong with one of your chickens/fowl for the first time can be heartbreaking. But I wanted to give some hope from one novice to another. When I came home the other day after work, one of my lavender guineas (14 weeks old) was laying in the coop. My husband told me it was crawling around on it's belly eating earlier. I picked it up and its foot and shin was scraped and bloody and then I noticed its leg flopping. After further inspection I realized it was broken. I am guessing it got its foot or leg caught in the fence and panicked. I was a little heartbroken because I love my guineas and the lavenders are my favorite. My husband immediately suggested we put it down to prevent any suffering. However, I am an eternal optimist and decided I would treat the guinea to the best of my ability as it was still very alert and seemed to be in good spirits despite the broken leg. I cleaned and wrapped the leg in gauze and added a layer of soft medical tape. I then took two finger splints, straightened them out and put one on the front and one on the back of the leg to support the leg and prevent the bones from moving.I wrapped the leg once again in medical tape. I gave the guinea aspirin crushed in gatorade to alleviate any pain and kept him in a brooder box the first night. The second evening I put him back in the coop with his flock. Well last night (third night) when I went out to check on all of my babies my much to my surprise my guinea was laying on top of the nesting boxes (about 4 ft. off the ground) cast and all. He/she is interacting with his /her flock and eating and drinking with them. His/her cast hasn't slowed him down a bit and I expect a full recovery.
