- May 9, 2014
- 16
- 0
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Hello, my fiancee and I have a young female turkey (about 10 months), today she somehow broke her leg right above her knee. I am pretty sure her femur and tibia are both broken since the leg feels like it is in two pieces, as far as I can tell the tendons are still attached. Her tibia was sticking out about a third an inch, I managed to place it back under the skin and I put one suture on the small hole which the bone wanted to keep popping out. We clipped most of the feathers on her leg and cleaned the area, wrapped it in gauze, medical tape, and put a homemade splint on so her leg is straightened out. We have her in inside a plastic tub inside the shed next to food and water, she did not want to eat much. Now, I am not completely certain her bones are set correctly, but we did our best, with her leg pointing straight the broken tibia was not trying to push through the skin, and that is the way we splinted it. The splint is a type of hock splint that is two pieces that covers the top and the bottom, it will not allow her to bend her leg, so she is having to lay on her side. I will be keeping her on antibiotic shots right under the skin on the breast to help ward off infection.
Now, for my question, I have been reading that the dressing and splint are supposed to be replaced daily, I understand the importance of this to help fight infection, but how are we suppose to redress it every day and still allow the bones to fuse back together? It seems to me that if we keep undoing her dressing that any fusion that had begun will break again. She is on antibiotics, would it make more sense to give her a week without taking it off to give the bones a chance to set a little before redressing it? It was very tedious and difficult to get her wrapped and splinted correctly, I have trouble seeing how we could keep everything perfectly straight and still every time we undress it.
Unfortunately the vet is not an option, we are already in large debt to the veterinarian due to a sick cockatiel. Among other debts and expenses we just can't do it even though we want to. It is a glaring reality we are trying to deal with. We want her better and will try our best, we are looking for answers from those who may have more experience. I have dealt with a lot of sick birds, but this is the first compound fracture I have had to deal with.
Now, for my question, I have been reading that the dressing and splint are supposed to be replaced daily, I understand the importance of this to help fight infection, but how are we suppose to redress it every day and still allow the bones to fuse back together? It seems to me that if we keep undoing her dressing that any fusion that had begun will break again. She is on antibiotics, would it make more sense to give her a week without taking it off to give the bones a chance to set a little before redressing it? It was very tedious and difficult to get her wrapped and splinted correctly, I have trouble seeing how we could keep everything perfectly straight and still every time we undress it.
Unfortunately the vet is not an option, we are already in large debt to the veterinarian due to a sick cockatiel. Among other debts and expenses we just can't do it even though we want to. It is a glaring reality we are trying to deal with. We want her better and will try our best, we are looking for answers from those who may have more experience. I have dealt with a lot of sick birds, but this is the first compound fracture I have had to deal with.
