catesquire
Songster
Posting this here mostly as encouragement to future internet searchers, because when I searched "quail with a broken leg" everything was either "cull them" or "take them to the vet for splinting, enjoy the bill".
The situation: one of my little buggers managed to flush at just the right angle to somehow knock their feeder off its hooks, onto a hen below. Who was, naturally, the absolutely most promising of my new girls, 11.6 ounces at 5 weeks, consistently laying 18-20 gram single yolk eggs, beautiful temperament, OF COURSE it hit her in specific. She understandably freaked out when I tried to examine her and I was afraid she'd hurt herself more, but I suspected an upper leg break based on her utter inability to put any weight on it, reluctance to move at all, and weird angle she was holding it at + visible shortening of the leg itself.
I immediately moved her to her own bin so the others would stop STEPPING ALL OVER HER come on people. I pretty quickly decided I would probably do more harm then good trying to splint her myself given the way she struggled, and frankly a vet bill just wasn't in the finances. But I'd plonked her down in a corner with food, water, and oyster shells all in reach of her beak without moving her body, and she was interested in all of them, very alert, and both pooping AND still laying the absolute mad lad. So I decided to leave her to it, with a plan to cull if she degraded and otherwise reassess in a week or two once she had time to heal and I could get a feel for her expected quality of life.
Progression:
First two days, barely any movement but extremely alert and eating/drinking regularly. I moved her once a day to put clean wood shavings under her, then set her back down in her little food/water/oyster shell area.
Third and fourth days, a little bit of hopping on one leg while using the wing on her injured side as a kind of crutch, the clever girl. Mostly stuck to her feeding area, moving was HARD.
Around the one week mark she stood up and started regularly limping all over in small bursts, with her bad leg wildly out of position and unable to hold weight. She'd basically go "step COLLAPSE step COLLAPSE", but she was exploring her bin. I put down a roll of that kitchen grippy rubber stuff under her wood shavings for extra traction on her bag leg, which noticably helped her get it (closer) to the right position.
We're now two weeks out from the initial injury, and I'm pleased to report that I'm planning to reintroduce her to her old cage any day now. She is now walking confidently with a noticable but not terrible limp. She's able to keep her bad leg under her and in the proper position, and she's pacing all over with no hesitation, spending about the same time on her feet every day as my other hens. I'm just waiting a little longer to be sure the bone is as healed as it's getting; my main fear in the reintroduction is having the boy jump her and reaggravate things.
So, for any future internet searchers: here's a broken leg success story!
And, of course, here's the super star herself, standing proud and side-eyeing me for waking her up. On the first few days I set her right in front of the water (highest priority item), and had the food and shells pushed a little forward (and turned towards her) so she could just stretch out her neck and reach them. If you're trying to replicate this, definitely don't forget the oyster shell, unlimited calcium is a must!
The situation: one of my little buggers managed to flush at just the right angle to somehow knock their feeder off its hooks, onto a hen below. Who was, naturally, the absolutely most promising of my new girls, 11.6 ounces at 5 weeks, consistently laying 18-20 gram single yolk eggs, beautiful temperament, OF COURSE it hit her in specific. She understandably freaked out when I tried to examine her and I was afraid she'd hurt herself more, but I suspected an upper leg break based on her utter inability to put any weight on it, reluctance to move at all, and weird angle she was holding it at + visible shortening of the leg itself.
I immediately moved her to her own bin so the others would stop STEPPING ALL OVER HER come on people. I pretty quickly decided I would probably do more harm then good trying to splint her myself given the way she struggled, and frankly a vet bill just wasn't in the finances. But I'd plonked her down in a corner with food, water, and oyster shells all in reach of her beak without moving her body, and she was interested in all of them, very alert, and both pooping AND still laying the absolute mad lad. So I decided to leave her to it, with a plan to cull if she degraded and otherwise reassess in a week or two once she had time to heal and I could get a feel for her expected quality of life.
Progression:
First two days, barely any movement but extremely alert and eating/drinking regularly. I moved her once a day to put clean wood shavings under her, then set her back down in her little food/water/oyster shell area.
Third and fourth days, a little bit of hopping on one leg while using the wing on her injured side as a kind of crutch, the clever girl. Mostly stuck to her feeding area, moving was HARD.
Around the one week mark she stood up and started regularly limping all over in small bursts, with her bad leg wildly out of position and unable to hold weight. She'd basically go "step COLLAPSE step COLLAPSE", but she was exploring her bin. I put down a roll of that kitchen grippy rubber stuff under her wood shavings for extra traction on her bag leg, which noticably helped her get it (closer) to the right position.
We're now two weeks out from the initial injury, and I'm pleased to report that I'm planning to reintroduce her to her old cage any day now. She is now walking confidently with a noticable but not terrible limp. She's able to keep her bad leg under her and in the proper position, and she's pacing all over with no hesitation, spending about the same time on her feet every day as my other hens. I'm just waiting a little longer to be sure the bone is as healed as it's getting; my main fear in the reintroduction is having the boy jump her and reaggravate things.
So, for any future internet searchers: here's a broken leg success story!
And, of course, here's the super star herself, standing proud and side-eyeing me for waking her up. On the first few days I set her right in front of the water (highest priority item), and had the food and shells pushed a little forward (and turned towards her) so she could just stretch out her neck and reach them. If you're trying to replicate this, definitely don't forget the oyster shell, unlimited calcium is a must!
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