Floppy leg?

bawk_bawk

In the Brooder
9 Years
Jul 18, 2010
91
1
31
School
Our RSL hen, Josephine, can't move her right leg. I took pictures, but I can't upload them at the moment.
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My dad found her out underneath the feeder that we made for them. She was laying down and leaning on her left foot, leaving the right one exposed. He tried to get her to stand up (WHY WHY WHY), but she wouldn't. He moved her leg to see if she would respond, but it just flops around and there's no resistance. She's in a box in the kitchen now, being given food and water and being checked on frequently.

It breaks my heart, because she doesn't crow, but she does the little "gurgle" that chickens do, and I almost cried when she wouldn't go for the apple core (from one of those apple cutters my dad uses) like she normally would. All of her food and water is by her head, and she's able to eat.
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Is it some sort of nerve damage? Did she break a bone? We haven't really done a full check up yet, and we can't take her to a vet because our chickens aren't exactly legal yet...
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Last edited:
It sounds like a possible break, but the best thing to do is to give her a thorough exam to get as many clues as you can. Then maybe we can help you more.
 
So I got some pictures and have them uploaded
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This is our little chicken hospital.
My dad, who is a massage therapist, had "examined" her previously, but I think that he just want's to eat her (she's pretty big), so when I told him to examine again, I was standing, making sure he tried everything.
Sure enough, he overlooked something.
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(this means that there's hope for our hen not being eaten)
The joint that connects the lover leg to the upper leg isn't supposed to move side to side, and we have seen her move her thigh, so upon closer examination, we found out that there was a sort of fracture:
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Where the finger is pointing is where we think the fracture is.

Is there any sort of splint to heal a fracture on the upper leg of a chicken?

Just for the heck of it, here's a picture of her before this all happened:
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I really hope we can get her better. She's a pretty hen.
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