Chicken with a broken leg

[Sarah24]

Hi everyone!
I have a 10 month old ISA brown named Lily. I raised her with 8 other chickens and 2 ducks. Now that the ducks are older (they turned out to be males) they're trying to mate with my chickens (have you ever heard of such a thing?) and they picked Lily as their favorite. As a result, I found her limping around the coop one day. I put her in a dog crate in the coop so she could still see her friends last week but she didn't seem to be getting any better, so I ended up taking her to the vet on Thursday. The vet said that she probably has a hairline fracture, gave her Metacam, and said she'd probably make some progress in the next few days. I brought her inside after the vet visit where it's warmer, thinking she could heal better. She seems to be making a small amount of progress. She can't bear any weight on her leg (it's been a week) but she can move it back and forth. I notice she sleeps a lot and has green diarrhea (which might be a side effect of the Metacam?) I was just wondering if anyone had a similar experience and if you think Lily will make it. She does eat and drinks a little. My chickens are free range so I'm worried she won't make a full recovery and eventually be eaten :/....

 

[sourland]

Welcome to BYC. Either separate the drakes from your hens or get rid of them. They will continue to mate your hens and will either injure or kill them. Drakes have a penis - roosters do not. The reproductive tract of a chicken is not designed for the introduction of 'objects'.

 

[Sarah24]

Thank you. Yes, I plan to give them away. I have someone already who said they would take them- probably taking them over there by the end of the week

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. If you look back through the emergency thread for the past week or so, you will see quite a few threads about possible broken legs or sprains. Most are treated the same, kept in a crate for a week or few with food, water, and vitamins in the water. I haven't used metacam, but I would ask if that could color the stools green. Green stools can be a symptom of not eating, eating a lot of greens, and sometimes Mareks disease. Did they show you the fracture on the xray, and where on the leg is it positioned? Would it be possible to splint? Did she have a Mareks vaccine? I would re-evaluate her at weekly intervals--broken legs can take a few weeks to heal. Best wishes for a quick recovery.

 

[Sarah24]

I got her from the local feed store and they got their chicks from Townline Hatchery and I'm not sure if the feed store had their orders of chicks vaccinated for Mareks. I know that Metacam can cause GI distress in cats and dogs, so maybe chickens too. The vet had to take multiple x rays before he could say he thinks it's a hairline fracture, but it kind of sounded like he couldn't get a clear picture for sure and, no, I didn't see the x rays. My hen squawks when you move her femur around, so that's why the vet believed it was a broken femur near her hip. The vet wants me to call tomorrow and let him know how she's doing. I'll ask him about the green stools. Thanks for your advice. I'll let you know how she does.

 

[Sarah24]

Unfortunately Lily didnt make it She seemed to be doing ok this morning- happily clucking to herself while eating- but when I went to check on her tonight she was dead. Maybe it was Mareks but she was starting to move her broken leg around more so maybe she had something else too...I'm not sure. You will be missed, Lily!

 

[myfinefeatheredfriends]

RIP Lily So sorry about your loss...