Chick with Broken or Dislocated Wing

[Soli]

I came home today and found the best pullet in the brooder pen was dragging one wing around. She has no ability to move it (or so it seems) and it hangs down where she and the other chicks step on it. I examined her and found no wounds, no blood, only one or two rumpled feathers. She is about 4 weeks old and in a large cage with 7 of her hatchmates (three roos, 4 pullets). No one has been home between this morning and this evening, and the cage is mounted high on the barn wall - would be difficult for a predator to get to, much less get INTO.

I watched her for a few minutes trying to decide whether to leave her with the others or separate. I watched her trip over her wing, roll over, and be unable to get up quickly - at which point other chicks ran up and began pecking her while standing on top of her, preventing her from even trying to get up. Soooo....she was removed. And she's now unhappily racing back and forth in a cage next to the others.

She's eating, drinking, and not at all lethargic.

Is it worthwhile to keep her? She was the best colored pullet in the bunch with great tail feathers (They're Phoenix). Any ideas on the wing? I did consider fashioning a wing-sling, but it sounded really silly when I thought of it. If it's a genetic weakness thing, I wouldn't want to keep her, but I'm having difficulty figuring out what exactly happened in the first place.

 

[kidcody]

Try taping the wing up (fold the wing then tape) give it several day and then deside what to do, it might be broke and by taping it up it might have a chance to heal (might not beable to use it again) give it a try. Good luck

 

[Wildflower_VA]

I've never had to deal with this kind of problem, but considering she doesn't seem to be in pain and is eating, drinking and is active, I would certainly tape her wing up for a few days to see if that fixes the problem. So she is not stressed out by being alone, put at least one of the other girls in with her. Even hampered by a taped-up wing, she should be able to hold her own with just one other chick. With her wing immobilized, she wouldn't be stepping on it, and neither would the other chick.

I have read about and have seen pictures of chicks with severe leg problems, that have been fixed with a band-aid or a splint and tape. It's worth a try.

 

[Soli]

I pulled her out tonight and taped her wing up in a loose circle (to allow for growth but enough to hold the wing up). She wasn't able to walk with that, so I took off the lower section of tape, leaving the potion over her back and wings - that still helped support the wing and she was able to move around better.

Thanks for the suggestion - I had thought about the sling idea but taping seems to be the easiest way. She is still feisty and more bothered by the tape than the wing, but the half-circle of tape seems to help without hindering too much.

I've raised a lot of chicks over my lifetime and never had one like this. Someone suggested she just tried to fly in the brooder cage and may have been caught in an awkward position - these phoenix chicks are expert flyers even at 4 weeks. Little guys can gain 4 feet of air without effort already (the rooster and hens were free range for years and always flew up to the barn rafters at night).

She really does have the best feathering and color of all the pullets out of this hatch, so I hope she recovers.

 

[pkw]

Yeah, I had a young cockerel that had a dislocated wing this past spring and I taped the one wing to his body and left the good wing out and it only took him about 4 or 5 days to heal and he had full use of his wing. He was a loner after that experience though which was sad because he such a good looking boy. I had a friend that needed a turken roo so she took him and he is active within her flock. I hope your chick gets better.

 

[Soli]

Just an update - today I noticed that the wing was no longer dragging the ground - it does occasionally sag lower than the other but mostly it is even with the other wing.

At first I tried taping her up with a firm but roomy circle of tape around her chest/wings. She refused to walk with that. So I took off the bottom part and left the tape over her back and wings to help support them in the upright position (it still sagged, though).

I had separated her into the adjacent cage so that she still had contact with her hatchmates. I hope to reintroduce them this weekend if the wing continues to be on the mend.