Broken leg

[big greg barker]

Really screwed up tonoght. I was moving the tractor and two chicks got their leg caught under the edge. One was hurt but still limping on her hurt leg. The other, a nice little barred rock is dislocated at the hock joint. I brought them both into the house and put them back in one of the brooder cages to keep them as comfortable as they can be. Any suggestions? The dislocation is pretty much complete. The leg just hangs there.

 

[Judy]

Put the leg back into a normal position as well as you can, then splint it. They may not heal back to a normally functioning leg, but it will allow the bone ends to knit together and let the chicken be mobile -- of course this may be with a limp. You can splint with most anything, a popsicle stick piece, perhaps; wrap a bit of cloth or gauze around it to pad it a little. Then apply the splint with Vet Wrap from the feed store or a similar product form a drug store for people -- that brightly colored stuff that sticks to itself but is not a tape.

Please don't leave them unsplinted; it will be painful and they will likely be unable to walk.

Sorry; stuff sure can go wrong, can't it?

 

[Karrie13]

Sorry... I don't mean to hijack but I am dealing with the same issue.

The bones will fuse even for a dislocation? Do you leave the splint on all the time? How long does it normally take to heal? Put it on the outside or the inside of the leg? Both?

Again, I am sorry for hijacking.

 

[big greg barker]

No one is hijacking here.We are both looking for the same info, and you are asking appropriate questions.
What I have done is separated the chick from the rest of the flock, and given it a companion chick in one of my brooder pens. The brooder is small enough so they aren't moving around a lot, but they have room to move if they want to.
The chick has been standing up for short periods of time, without putting weight on the bad leg. She is eating and drinking.She can fold her leg under her as she sits, so it may not be as bad as first assessed. I am not sure I can splint it, as it was dislocated at the hock joint, but I will try it if it looks feasable.I don't want to put her through any more undue stress, but want her to heal fairly well.