Chicken leg healed improperly after failed attempt of splinting.

[Benny1215]

First time poster. I feel terrible because of this. A few weeks ago we noticed one of our chickens limping around. She’s always had medical problems so this wasn’t that surprising. I searched up what to that meant and found a video on YouTube that showed how to splint it. It explained to find where the break was, the thing is both legs looked exactly the same there was no difference, we didn’t know what to do so we just splinted her like in the video.( I realize now how stupid this is) So we copied the video and splinted her. The recommended 2 weeks pass and we take off her splint. She’s still limping, we really thought maybe she would learn to put weight on it and is just getting used to it because of limping for so long. A week goes by and we decide to try again. We use another YouTube video which shows a vet holding the chickens leg straight and bandaging it like that. So we decide since we only did the first bottom part of the leg last time then we should try this method as it involves all of the leg. This is where we realized we messed up. We tried to bend the hurt leg straight for the splint, but it won’t bend all the way flat. Her other healthy leg can though. So now we know that the problem is within her knee. I’m scared that because of the way we splinted her the first time her leg/knee healed improperly which is why it can’t bend anymore. Is there anything we could do? Btw shes not in terrible pain she can walk but limping, so she just lays on the ground most of the time. Sadly vet is out of the picture.

 

[Callender Girl]

I'm sorry about your girl's leg. Two of my Cochin Bantam hens have leg issues. One had a stricture surgery that left her with a featherless, non-bending leg; the other had and continues to have terribly crooked feet. The first one hops about on her one good leg, and the other little girl has a terrible gait. But neither seems to be in pain, and both are mobile.

I don't know what else you could do. I tried to straighten my girl's crooked toes, taping them just like all suggested, but she has the worst-looking feet I've ever seen on a chicken. I would doubt that there's more you can do, but I am far from an expert. I hope someone else has a solution for you.

 

[RoyalChick]

Did you splint across a joint and now she can’t bend that joint? Is that what you are saying.
Splinting won’t fuse a joint but it will make it stiff and tendons can shorten.
It can unlock in time with some massage and exercise. Slooooowly. Never force it.
If I misunderstood the situation I apologize. And please look at diagrams of chicken leg anatomy before you do anything so you understand the correct positioning of everything.

 

[kidd5443]

So, I have a few chickens where I'm living, one of which is exactly like a few have described having been with broken leg for a couple of months now though. We lift her up and down and ensure she's nourished and cared for, but I too was hoping to find some sort of solution.
It doesn't sound like you caused any injuries, certainly not intentionally, but realistically I'm afraid from a medical point, we'd likely have to rebreak the broken joint or bone, if its not merely dislocated, and then cast or splint it until it healed better and retrain the ole girl how to use it fully again.
Ours is happy as ever though. Maybe more so since the other chickens don't bother her as much since she's usually behind. But yeah, she's always laying around but I've seen mine get herself up and hobble around when she's determined so I'd say if she's not in distress, let her rest. Keep up the positive caring!

I also found a link https://theiwrc.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Duerr_Splinting_Manual_2010.pdf from Wyorp-Rock's https://www.backyardchickens.com/members/wyorp-rock.380647/ post that could be very helpful.