Help! Chicken with broken leg.

[btautges]

Hello,

I have a chicken with a broken leg. She sometimes walks on it a bit and then I slips out from under her. Can I make a sling to have her keep her weight of it? I really want to help her heal.

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to to BYC. If her leg is really broken (usually there will be swelling and redness, bruising, or displaced bone ends,) she needs to be rested off of it for a couple of weeks. A vet would be your best option with xray, but if not possible or affordable, I would confine her to a small cage with food and water, and a vitamin B Complex tablet crushed or dissolved in food or water. This cage should be in the coop with the other chickens if possible to keep her place in the flock. A sling may be a good option especially if it is high in the leg, unless she struggles around too much, but you could try it. Splinting can also be an option. Here is a link on splinting and a thread with a couple of slings:
http://theiwrc.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Duerr_Splinting_Manual_2010.pdf
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/713499/my-chicken-sling-pic

 

[btautges]

Thank you for your help. I did as you requested. She seems to be doing well. Eating well and is calm and not stress. I did not see any brushing or redness in the leg. We did not feel any obvious break. My vet friend came over and splinted her any ways to make sure she does not hurt it any more. I am treating it as a broken leg to make sure it does not get any worse. I am no sure if I should keep her in the sling 24/7 or if I should just put her in it for the night and let her loose in the kennel to give her a break from it. She is a young chicken, about 4 months old. I am hoping because of her age she will have a good chance in healing. Not sure how she injured her leg. She belonged to a friend of mine who was going to put her down. I was not happy with that choice, so I decided to take her a give her the opportunity to heal . Thank you for reading my post and helping me with this situation. I will keep you posted on Ginger.

 

[Eggcessive]

Since you have splinted her she might enjoy a break from the sling at night. I hope she gets better soon.