chick with injured leg. what do i do?

[KattyKillFish]

i am having some problems. i have a week old silver spangled hamburg chick that has an injured leg. my nephew admitted to dropping it and that is how it happened i am guessing.

it is very swollen at the hock and she will not put weight on it. she can barely move her toes and can hobble around to get food and such but mostly likes to sit and sleep. i have been giving her my own mixture of liquid "medicine" that i hope will work. it is a tall glass of water with a pinch of finely crushed oyster shell, a bit of quik chick, two drops of honey and a drop of cranberry juice. i give her 5 or 6 drops of it twice a day. will this help? should i stop?

should i give he a splint? if so, where and how? i don't want to keep her from being in the resting position. i have dealt with a lot of injured chicks but none with anything as crippling as this. she cries when i try to straighten it too much or bend it too far. she doesn't like it when it is moved a whole lot, but she loves being held. she gets food and water just fine by herself, she limps though. will this hurt her? is there anything more i could be doing?

thanks in advance, guys!

 

[MoodyChicken]

At the knee or the hock? It sounds like her hip might be broken or dislocated. There is nothing you can do for her if that is the case.

 

[KattyKillFish]

the joint just below fig. 10

i have always read that part as being the knee. i don't know if it's correct, please tell me if it isn't because i really didn't think it was?

thanks!

 

[KattyKillFish]

anyone? i am very worried about my poor baby. what should i do?

 

[mypicklebird]

The 'knee' is at #7, the joint you are referring to is the hock which is the same as our ankle. If this area is swollen, it could be damage to the bone or joint, or supporting tendons. Not much you can do with a one week old chick other that time and supportive care (food, water, rest). See what nature can do with it. To be affective for a fracture you have to splint to the joint above and below, you can't get to the knee- it is buried in feathers and skin/muscle. All you will do is weigh down the area if you put a splint on it. I would stop pulling/trying to straighten it and let it heal if it can. If it is a hen, she may do well, but have a limp. If this is a rooster, he may not be able to do his duty if he can't use the leg well. If the joint or tendons are really damaged, and the leg starts really getting in his way, or it is completely not non weight bearing as he grows- you may need to make a more drastic decision.
There is also the possibility that this is an infection or slipped tendon, not a trauma. If the chick was dropped several feet, trauma is likely- but if it was just a drop off the lap, the nephew may be a red herring...

 

[MoodyChicken]

Ah, ok, that's somewhat better. I gotta say tendon injuries are a bee-yotch to fix, so let's hope it's not that. Restrain all movement and splint for one week. If it is fixable, you will see improvement by then.

 

[KattyKillFish]

thank you for the info! i only checked the leg for movement once so that i get an idea of how bad it is. it was the "free rare chick" i got from Mc Murray.

i am pretty sure it is a male. my nephew is about 3 feet tall. he is no longer allowed with them by himself. how would a critically injured chick act at this age? it seems to be doing okay, gets its food & water and then sits.

should i separate it? he's very small compared to the huge cuckoo marans and dark cornish, but the tiny little egyptian fayoumis are even smaller than him. if i were to seperate them, should i put the fayoumis in with him for company?

 

[mypicklebird]

My free rare chicks from McMurray have always ended up as roosters...
If it was critically injured, it would likely be getting worse than better over a 24 hr period. If it is eating/drinking/pooping ect and not getting beaten up by it's brooder mates- I would leave it in there. You can't really keep a chick quiet. I would avoid handling it to decrease stress for now, but other than that- treat it the same. If the leg becomes unstable/floppy- then you may need to do something different.


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[Judy]

Your choice, of course. Personally, I'd leave him where he is and see how it goes. Won't help his feelings to be isolated, and this does not sound like anything contagious. He is eating and drinking; very good signs. You already know that chickens heal amazingly well.

I'd certainly supervise the nephew as much as possible, but I would not lay down rules like not being with them by himself. Great learning opportunity for him. He does not need to get the message that the chick matters more than he does. Maybe you can lift this when he expresses concern or responsibility.

 

[KattyKillFish]

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actually it took him 3 or 4 days to admit that he dropped it. we only asked him once and today we were talking about how cute they were and that the hurt one isn't crying so much anymore. then my nephew broke into tears and said "I didn't mean to drop it auntie, i am sorry." he admitted everything and told me how it happend and asked if he could see the chick and tell the chick that he was sorry. i didn't let him hold it of course, but he kissed it on the head and said he was sorry. you could see the guilt in this poor kid's face! still dunno if it was fake though, kids are good at faking emotions.

we had suspected it was him, and as soon as we noticed we put a good lock on the door. it is a very good learning experience for him. we explained to him why we didn't want him alone with the chicks, that they are fragile, blah blah. he spends more time with his adult quail than he ever had with any animal. and Batman has never been injured. i honestly don't trust any child under the age of 14 alone with any animal. i was gone at the time, and my mom was in charge of him when it happened. she denied all she could that he did it, but come on mom. nephew is with chickens, you leave the room. later on in the day you check on the birds and one has a broken leg. -sarcasm- what could have possibly happened to the chick?

she is notoriously bad at taking care of animals. she will often turn the heat lamp off when it is over a brooder full of day old chicks. i don't blame her, she always has a lot on her mind.

so far, what you guys have been saying is good news to me! it's been three days now. he certainly hasn't been getting worse but gradually better. poor thing doesn't seem to want to play as much as the others, but i can relate. i had a busted knee cap once and didn't want to get out milch either. i just hope he get better soon. i have always been interested in this breed, and have never actually seen a grown one. based on the pictures they truly are beautiful birds. if it is a roo i would be happy. i love roos to no end.

thank you all for your information and answering my questions, it really makes me feel better about this chick! i certainly feel guilty for leaving both my nephew AND my mom at the house with the chicks. won't make that mistake again!