Help for chick with broken Ieg?

[TheDocter21]

It would be nice if there was a photo. She is over a month old! It might be too late. I know for the human body if a bone breaks and the doctors don’t put it in a cast within a few weeks, it will heal wrong. Her leg could have been permanently healed wrong, which would require surgery. I would look and see if there is a bird hospital nearby. You could schedule an appointment and consult with a doctor. They would tell you how to fix her yourself or they could fix her for you. I could be a little expensive, but if you love your chicken money doesn’t matter. The diy wheelchair isn’t a bad idea, but other chickens might “bully” her and peck her. She would have to live by herself.

 

[haileyeverhart]

Photo?

 

[TheDocter21]

I just read your part about the leg bending the wrong way. I looked at a few diagrams of a chicken’s legs and bones. Her actual bone may not be broken, I could be the knee socket that holds the two bones together isn’t doing its job. I would definitely see about going to a bird hospital. It could be easier to fix since it might just be the socket. It might just meet popping the leg back into its socket, like when a finger or an arm gets dislocated.

 

[happyfrenchman]

If it is still ambulatory, I would hesitate before I would attempt some kind of splint without really knowing what I was splinting. I would let it go and see what happens. If worst comes to worst you have to know when to euthanize. But chickens are very resilient creatures. The body can heal itself if possible. If you had 25 chicks and you only lost one that would be pretty good.

 

[Jrzebra]

It would be nice if there was a photo. She is over a month old! It might be too late. I know for the human body if a bone breaks and the doctors don’t put it in a cast within a few weeks, it will heal wrong. Her leg could have been permanently healed wrong, which would require surgery. I would look and see if there is a bird hospital nearby. You could schedule an appointment and consult with a doctor. They would tell you how to fix her yourself or they could fix her for you. I could be a little expensive, but if you love your chicken money doesn’t matter. The diy wheelchair isn’t a bad idea, but other chickens might “bully” her and peck her. She would have to live by herself.

 

[Jrzebra]

OK, here's some photos. Makes me sad to look at, but she is using the leg, which is an improvement. Maybe these will give you a better idea & get some more suggestions in. these are in sequence, so you can see how the left leg is bent wrong underneath her when she 1st gets to the water. The next 2 show how she's able to correct it & stand.
The following 2 illustrate how she gets around: flapping & using wings as crutches. She lost a lot of feathers on her wing tips when she was in with the bigger chicks b/c they knocked her around a lot, making her scramble too much. I treated with ointment & it looks better now. Her buddies now are Bantam chicks, too light to push her around. She seems to enjoy piling up w/them to sleep at night. I felt bad for her being alone- babies need contact.
What do you think? I just love this chick, she tries so hard! She's attached to me now too. I hope there's something I can do, if just to make her life a little easier...

 

[happyfrenchman]

You might want to try to limit it's movement. I don't know about a splint, but if you could keep it from moving about too much, it might do some healing. It is really hard to say. Chicks are very fragile. This one has a clear eye and seems to be holding itself pretty good despite the injury...... rest and quiet would be what I would try. Good luck with it. It looks basically healthy otherwise which is a good place to be.

 

[Jrzebra]

Thank you. That makes sense, as she had improved quite a bit, but then when the other chicks started to get bigger & more active, she seemed to be getting worse again. I pulled her out after she got knocked in the water & was soaked to the bone. That's also when I noticed she was getting sores on her little bald wingtips.
At this time, her sores are healed & I think she's gotten back to how she was before they started running her over & causing her to move around too much.
She is very healthy and has a lot of energy. This is the best she's been so far, so I can only hope she is still improving. I will continue to keep her contained in a smaller area so she doesn't have to exert herself to get to food & water, and I'll keep a closer eye on her to make sure she isn't being pushed around or stressed by any other chick again.