Chicken with broken leg

[Bakerjett99]

I have a hen who broke her leg above the bend in the leg a bit feels like a clean break straight across. I've made her a chicken hammock and have had a cast on for 3 days now no splint just a cast as the break is in a weird place. She alternates between laying down with a leg support under her and in her hammock. Big appetite she's hydrated too. I finished 3 days on penicillin for her to prevent infection. She's seeming to sleep alot and also sorta get up and try to move around on her good leg. My question is should I take off the cast now and let her be without it or leave it on or take it off and then put it back on there's some bruising above the cast it was there before the cast and I've been giving her a small crumble of aspirin before bed so she can sleep good. She pants too she's not hot, no fever, and not thirsty so I think pain probably. Should I take off the cast or no? Thank you in advance

 

[Isaac 0]

Welcome to BYC.
Do you have a picture/video of the hen?
Could you point out which bone is broken?

Generally, if there is a break, and access to a veterinarian is not available, we're going to try every attempt to reduce movement in the leg and reduce the amount of pressure on the leg. Bandaging, and keeping her on a hammock is a great start, and you'll want to keep up with that until you really know the leg is in good shape. If the bandage is getting dirty (fecal matter, feed, water, etc) changing it every so often to keep it clean would be a good idea, but I would not personally take it off for an extended period of time as further damage can occur. The bandage should be plenty padded, and not tight.

When used properly, NSAIDs such as aspirin work decently for relieving pain, but when given at an improper dose can cause problems to the gastrointestinal system. Generally, the dose most use will be 5mg/kg of body weight daily. If the hen is drinking/eating well, and you limit movement in the leg, you should see some improvement in a few weeks or months.

 

[Eggcessive]

Pictures can often be helpful. What bone is broken? Broken bones can take 3-5 weeks in a splint to heal and form a calas if the bones are aligned well. The joints above and below the break should be splinted with padding, something stiff, and tape or vet wrap. The important thing is not to splint or cast too tight where circulation can be cut off. Here is a splinting guide, and scroll down to pages 18-23 for leg and foot splinting:
https://theiwrc.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Duerr_Splinting_Manual_2010.pdf