chicken leg injury

[sierraamor]

I found my chicken hanging from the roost by one foot; Apparently, got the foot caught. She's Ok except she can't walk on that leg. I've isolated her from the others to give her some time alone. When I get her up, she is still having difficulty, using that leg/foot;
Any sugestions?

 

[Drafthorsegal]

Well, its really hard to say. We just went through this with a chick and ended up culling her because what we thought was a leg injury was a pelvic break. If its a leg break, you can vet wrap the leg and isolate her and see how she does after about a week. If its a pelvic injury, shes undoubtably in a lot of pain and probably shouldn't be allowed to suffer. We can't see her, and you haven't said if you know if shes got obvious swelling, pain, etc.

I tried to take our chick to the vet, but the best I could do in our area was find a vet willing to talk to me on the phone about what to do for her. He was a rural cow vet (my bestest most favorite vet 'doesn't see chickens' - argh! And I'm a really good customer with three dogs, fifteen cats, horses, etc) but what he said was the most a vet could do for her was 'wrap' the leg (and give antibotics - anti-inflamatories which you yourself can get and give just as easily). But he recommended if it was pelvic to cull her. I cried like a baby when I had to do it.

After wrapping her leg for a week, it was obvious it was indeed a pelvic wound. You'll see improvement in a few days, she'll start walking on it, or it will get a whole lot worse.

Here was his suggestions for wrapping.

1. Wrap the leg straight or with only a slight curve to it.
2. Wrap snug, but make sure her toes don't swell and her foot isn't overly warm or cold after wrapping - meaning no blood circulation/too tight. You've got it wrapped right if her injured leg is the same temp roughly (with touching).
3. Don't splint. Some people suggested splits here, and we tried that - using the light cardboard middle pieces of a Q-tip which are light and can be bent... but it just made her leg bulky and heavy. No splint was far better - no rubbing etc.

Now thats just for if its a break. If its not a break, just torn muscles, the wrapping can help too but you'll not need to do it for as long.

I'm not an expert, but I hope that helps.

 

[ranchhand]

You're in one of those situations when you just do the best you can to wrap/support the leg and wait. Make sure she is comfortable and see if it improves.

Drafthorsegal gave good advice.

Good luck, I hope it works out for her!

 

[California Ducken]

Any updates on her yet?