chicken leg slammed in door (help)

[jesterpoop]

my nephew slamed door on chickens leg cant stand on it foot is swollen dont know what to do i dont think leg is broke i applied pressure and she seamed ok with it but didnt put much pressure on the foot only the leg

 

[BeccaB00]

what kind of door??

 

[jesterpoop]

outside door to my shed its a regular exterior house door

 

[oesdog]

DH says - grab chicken , place flat of hand under foot and gently push up on the heal of the foot, while supporting leg and raising toes. obvious sign of break will be:
Discoloration of foot and joint, swelling, and inability to stand / weight bare, lack of coordination when you put her down.
Options
1 ) take to vet ?
2) straighten leg best you can - apply 2 lolly sticks either side and bandage up / obtain anti biotics. Amoxicillin.
3 ) Make up a bread poultice apply round limb while warm NOT hot. Cover with clean musslin dressing( Stops her eating it!) Keep bird rested. Change dressing every hr do three times. This should reduce swelling and bring out any bruising. When bruisng has come out check to see if the stuiffness is still there. Or the bird is still not weight bearing. If so refer to 1) Best I can do? Hope its not broken.

Oesdog -

 

[OregonChickenGal]

Keep her separate from the other chickens so she has time to heal. I have one right now that hurt her leg flying down from the perch. I have her in a mediom dog crate. She can move around but not alot. She's getting better everyday.

 

[jesterpoop]

thanks will try . cant take to vet to much $ also looking up what bread poultice is now and will seperate her thanks

 

[Gypsy07]

Chickens hide pain very well. If they show signs of weakness the others will often turn on them and attack them horribly so they are VERY good at acting fine when they're actually in a lot of discomfort. You should be able to tell if the leg is broken because you'll be able to wiggle the foot around in a way that shouldn't normally be possible. But even if the leg itself feels okay the bones in the foot or toes may be broken. Some breaks will heal by themself, some require a splint, some will be impossible to heal due to the bone being totally shattered. Most likely you won't be able to tell the difference without an X-ray, so unless you're near a good avian vet AND you have to money to pay for treatment, you'll have to decide whether to give the hen a chance to heal and take the risk that it might be in a LOT of pain and it won't work anyway, or euthanise it, knowing that it might heal on its own. It's a hard choice to have to make...

I had one hen with a suspected broken leg and after a few days or worry I cracked and took her to the vet. Turned out her leg bone was utterly pulverised and had zero chance of ever coming good. I had her put to sleep and the whole thing cost me a fortune. I didn't mind paying it though, as it saved her a lot of pain. Another hen had a suspected broken leg, but she occasionally DID put the foot down and limp a bit on it, so I thought she had a chance. She was still eating and drinking and after a couple of weeks her leg had healed. It now has a big lump on the ankle but apart from that she's fine.

So how is your hen today?

 

[oesdog]

Don;t be manipulating the leg too much as this will increase any injury and not help the healing. A bread poultice is an old remedy. It is basically a slice of bread dipped in hot water and put inside a dressing and then bandaged onto the area. It will draw out any swelling and bruising. We use that because it easily moulds to the shape of a chickens leg/ Please don;t be moving her foot too much! Keep it in one place and stabalised. DH has worked with loads of Breaks - not many in Chickens though more the human type but principles the same. Good luck!

Oesdog -

 

[DaniLovesChickens]

I had a chicken with a broken leg in the Spring. She also had her leg shut in a door. The wind blew it shut - it was my fault.

The break was very high up on her leg so a splint wasn't feasible. It was also cut pretty bad. I just used non-stick gauze and a very large band-aid (the kind with adhesive all the way around) I changed it every 2 days. I did also put her in a crate to keep her safe but also to make it so that she didn't have to move much to get food and water.

She has a large lump on her leg where the break was, but after some nursing and slowly allowing her more freedom, she can walk normally. We are lucky that she is a leghorn. I think that her light body weight probably helped with the healing.

We have what we call the "infirmary"where she was able to go when she was done with being in the crate. We have to older chickens that are blind and were being picked on so they now have their own living quarters. They don't mind in the least if someone else has to join them. It's like a slumber party.

With some patience and a watchful eye your chicken should do fine! Good luck!

Dani

 

[jesterpoop]

thanks for all the input i took to popsicle sticks and some tape and put her in dog crate guess only time will tell thanks again