HELP! Broken leg???

[JessMay]

Help!! We just recently got new chicks from Farm and Fleet. This Silver Laced Wyandotte is limping and not putting pressure on her leg. I took a closer look and the left leg in the Picture very swollen. What does it look like is wrong with her leg and is there anything we can do to help her out? (We have only had her for less than 24 hours so I am assuming she’s been like this since we got her)

 

[Eggcessive]

It could be a sprained leg, but since the leg is also darker, can you look for a small hair or string that could have become wrapped around it? The darker color may be bruising. I would make sure that she is able to get enough food and water, and make sure that she is not being trampled. Separate her if necessary, but leave her with the others if possible.

 

[JessMay]

No string or anything wrapped around her leg. I can seperate her with a few other calm chicks.. I’m worried because she seems to be breathing hard and chirping loud.. won’t move from under the heat lamp. I can tell she is in pain.. I will post a video to show how she’s reacting..

It could be a sprained leg, but since the leg is also darker, can you look for a small hair or string that could have become wrapped around it? The darker color may be bruising. I would make sure that she is able to get enough food and water, and make sure that she is not being trampled. Separate her if necessary, but leave her with the others if possible.

 

[JessMay]

It could be a sprained leg, but since the leg is also darker, can you look for a small hair or string that could have become wrapped around it? The darker color may be bruising. I would make sure that she is able to get enough food and water, and make sure that she is not being trampled. Separate her if necessary, but leave her with the others if possible.

 

[Eggcessive]

You could try to make her a chick chair or sling to sit in and rest her leg if she will tolerate it. She would be much too small for pain medicine (aspirin or metacam) I would think. Here is a link for chick chairs:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/versions-of-chick-chairs-please.1166308/

 

[Eggcessive]

She looks small. Can you hold her in your hand and offer some water by dipping her beak a few times? If you can make her a chair or prop her on some rolled wash cloths, you can try to get her eating. Use a bottle cap and mix a little chick feed and water to make a liquidly paste. Another bottle cap can hold water.

 

[JessMay]

She looks small. Can you hold her in your hand and offer some water by dipping her beak a few times? If you can make her a chair or prop her on some rolled wash cloths, you can try to get her eating. Use a bottle cap and mix a little chick feed and water to make a liquidly paste. Another bottle cap can hold water.

She’s actually eating and drinking fine. I have to pick her up and put her near food/water because she won’t get up on her own to eat or drink. I just tried the chick chair.. she was squirming a lot and I felt like she would hurt herself more so I took her out to have a breather and she’s just napping now. I’m not sure what else to do? I can’t tell if it’s broken, slipped tendon or a strain.. I have 10 adult chickens and have never had an issue like this.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would leave her out of the sling for now. Just make sure she is getting plenty of food and water.

 

[JessMay]

I would leave her out of the sling for now. Just make sure she is getting plenty of food and water.

Just wanted to say thank you for the advice. Turns out you were right the first time when you mentioned something wrapped around her leg. I soaked her in a warm Epsom salt bath & when I took her out I could see her skin a lot better with wet fuzzies.. there’s was something wrapped around the very upper part of her leg. Got it all off and the swelling has already gone down! Pictures of the stuff wrapped around her leg, and then how much the swelling went down after an hour or two.