Gambel chick with injured leg

[Jannbo]

(Cross posted to the injuries section as well)

So I’ve been raising my four gambel chicks and they’re all just over 2 months and now. Two of them are attached at the hip to me and two are scared to death of me. I just did a check up on all of them yesterday and they were all looking happy and healthy. Poos are normal, all the good stuff. When I went in this morning to give them some fresh water and food, I noticed the two that are scared were running away terrified as always, but one of them had its leg stuck out. It was still hopping around and flying, but it couldn’t get its leg underneath it. I finally caught it and got it separated to get a better look and it seems like it’s upper leg is swollen. I have no idea what could have caused this. Those two have never been violent with each other and they’re both still four months away from sexual maturity so I don’t think that’s the case, especially since no feathers are missing. They’re kept in a large plastic tote with a paper towel lining, just like the two who are friendly are kept, and they’re doing perfectly fine. The one it is kept with is doing a-ok as well.

Is it a sprain, is it broken? Is this something that will just heal or is gonna need to be taken to a vet? Most likely if it needs to go to a vet, I’m going to cull as it’s not really a pet that I can justify some ridiculous vet bill on at the moment. I want it to live, but if taking it to the vet is the only way, then I just don’t think I can

I’ve attached some pictures below. It’s currently being kept in its own tote with a towel loosely draped over it so it can still get air but not fly out. I’ve also got some of its regular Purina 30% protein game bird starter in with it, as well as a mixture of water, probiotics, poly-vi-sol without iron (for some vitamins), and pedialyte. That water solution is what it’s been drinking since it was born as well as all the other chicks just to try and prevent any issues as best as possible while they grow. Figured it certainly couldn’t hurt right now to keep it up

 

[Nabiki]

That looks much more serious than a sprain. I would guess that the leg is dislocated.

Is a vet an option? If not, the bird is probably permanently crippled. Personally, I would cull.

 

[Jannbo]

That looks much more serious than a sprain. I would guess that the leg is dislocated.

Is a vet an option? If not, the bird is probably permanently crippled. Personally, I would cull.

Unfortunately with the area I live in, vets are ridiculously expensive and my dog is eating up the budget for vet trips. I’ll keep an eye on her today and make the call in the morning if it’s just as bad or has gotten worse if culling is the right move.

 

[Kiki]

Oh my. Can you post clear pictures of the cage?

 

[Climax]

DON'T KILL IT or GIVE UP!

This happened to one of my California quail about a month and a half ago, it's completely fine now.
I found a California Quail one morning hanging by its leg from a tree branch in my aviary, it was about 2 months old too, it's leg was dislocated like that, and I couldn't find any way to fix it. I gave up after about 2 hours of searching for how to fix it and couldn't find anything, so I put it in a small cage 16" x24", and put the cage inside the aviary, so it could still be with the rest of the quail, It had super easy access to food and water, and every night while it was sleeping on the ground I tried to make so that it's leg was stuffed under it in as normal of a position as I could get it in. After about 7 days, It was using its leg again, although still limping slightly, and I released it back into the Aviary, now about a month later, she's doing fantastic, I can't even tell which one was injured out of my 3 females.

 

[Climax]

Just give it as small of a space as you can, with food and water as close as possible to limit the use of its leg, and Nature will work itself out.

 

[Jannbo]

Just give it as small of a space as you can, with food and water as close as possible to limit the use of its leg, and Nature will work itself out.

I’ve already put it down. It hadn’t touched a drop of water or food in over 24 hours and after culling, I could feel the leg seemed almost completely pulled out of place. It would have been cruel to keep it like that, especially since there’s no chance I would be able to try and keep its leg in a good position. The little thing was just about as close to being how they act in the wild as they get. This one and it’s sibling got freaked out even with a side opening brooder so I wouldn’t be coming from above whenever I cleaned out their brooder and gave them their fresh food and water each day. Just having my hand in sets them running, it would just cause more damage with its flailing if I tried to keep putting its leg under it. I should mention the space it was in was quite small to restrict mobility. Maybe about it’s 1.5 times it’s length in both width and length, so it could get to the food and water

 

[Jannbo]

Oh my. Can you post clear pictures of the cage?

I can when I get home. It’s the same setup I’ve used for other chicks. A large plastic tote with paper towels lining the bottom and the lid cut out with a soft mesh in place for airflow and so they can’t hurt themselves as bad if they jump up. Also has an opening on the side.

 

[Kiki]

I can when I get home. It’s the same setup I’ve used for other chicks. A large plastic tote with paper towels lining the bottom and the lid cut out with a soft mesh in place for airflow and so they can’t hurt themselves as bad if they jump up. Also has an opening on the side.

Paper towels can move...and the birds can hurt themselves on the slippery tote floor.

 

[Climax]

your loss, if it just had food and water in a tiny area and left alone it would have healed, it's not going to eat from the stress of you handling it and it being alone from it's friends.