HELP! I have a hen that has a broken leg. IS THERE ANY ANTIBIOTICS?

[PokerPrincess]

Its been broken for a while but its healed back so shes always on her elbow. She s eating and drinking fine . but she just can't get around. Anytime we try to give her water or feed in a cup she spills it trying to fall over getting there. Its probably been 3-4 weeks since it was broke now it looks like her good leg is getting bad. Any HELP would be great thanks!

 

[ChickenToes]

An antibiotic will only help if there is an infection. Is the leg red, swollen, and hot to the touch? If so, then there may be an infection.

My only other advice is to maybe splint the leg so she can keep her weight off of it for awhile. That's unfortunately all I can help you with, hopefully someone else will know more about broken bones in chickens.

 

[rooster-red]

If its been 3-4 weeks her bones will have already fused together in whatever position they are in, I think its too late for a splint to do you any good unless you rebreak the leg.

Unless there is a bad infection antibiotics won't help.

At this point I think it becomes a quality of life issue, and given the info that shes having a hard time eating and getting around... If it was one of my hens I'd have to consider puttng her down.

Sorry, I know this wasn't what you wanted to hear.

 

[Momo]

I had the same problem. Didn't splint it because there was no distinguishable point tenderness, crepitus or misalignment so I couldn't tell how it would need to be immobilized. Maybe I should have tried splinting it anyway, because after about 3 weeks she really took a turn for the worse and had more mobility problems than ever. I finally made the decision to put her down because her quality of life had gone from not-great-but-not-bad-with-potential-to-improve, to generally-sucks.

 

[kcallis]

You can try splinting it to see if the extra support helps her get around. Also, force feed her a mixture of 30 cc gatorade 3x daily. The extra electrolytes and fluids will really help her. Put it in a syringe and stick it down her throat if she can't or won't drink it on her own. This will help keep her strength up and give her some of the extra minerals she needs. Also make sure she gets lots of yogurt for the extra calcium.

If there is any swelling, redness, or seepage, add some teramycin (from the feed store) to the gatorade.

Good luck. Lots of love and good care will probably get her through it.

 

[Beekissed]

With the bulk of her weight on her good leg, it sounds like her sound leg is being put under a tremendous strain, causing her to experience pain to that limb. Unless you are prepared to hand feed this chicken for the rest of her life and provide pain meds as well, it would be best to relieve her of her misery.