Help, Please. Chick has possible dislocated leg/hip

[cshiever]

If someone could please help, I would be very grateful. My 7 year old son loves our 2 month old chicks. He is always trying to hold them. Today, while trying to catch one of the hens, he pulled on its leg. The hen will not stand on it and keeps it lifted off the ground. I need help helping my little Brownie!

 

[MommaOrp]

Can you feel a break or dislocation?

 

[cshiever]

My husband has felt both her legs. He says he can't tell a difference. I'm so worried about her.

 

[MommaOrp]

The best thing to do is quarantine the hen in a dark, quiet, secure space. Give access to plenty of food and fresh water, maybe add a baby aspirin to the water for pain relief. The important thing is that she gets plenty of rest and doesn't attempt to use the leg too much. After a few days you night notice a big difference in her, it may take weeks or months or may not heal at all but i've known some birds hoble around on one leg and do just fine. Hopefully your girl will recover nicely, Keep us posted

 

[Mare]

I have the same problem with my 5 1/2 week old chick so I know how you feel. Can't feel a break or dislocation but she can't stand on the one leg. I have her separated from the others cause they were walking all over her. Unfortunately I'm going away next week, so I have to leave her in my husband hands. Hopefully by the time I get back she'll be better.

 

[psyverson]

Same problem with my 5-day old. Buff Orp, the other two dart about all over.
This one, she got hit with a dog paw, who was sniffing, chirped, seems to be
okay, sequestered her, leave food, water, guess I'll check in the AM.

Hope it isn;t anything internal.

 

[cshiever]

Here is a link to watch Brownie walking. www.youtube.com/watch?v=W40peZBUXf4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

We kept her inside last night and she cried all night long. The others seem not to be hurting her so we took her back out to the coop.

 

[bawkbawkbawk]

This may not be relevant, but a young friend of ours inadvertently pulled on the leg of our cockatiel and she didn't want to put weight on the leg for months. It was a few weeks before she would really try to walk or climb and we really thought she would never be the same. However, she has gradually improved and, while she does still sometimes favor that leg by holding it up when she perches, I don't see that it's impacting her in any way anymore.

The vet put her on anti-inflammatories for the first few weeks and that seemed to help, btw.

Good luck!

 

[cshiever]

Thank you all for your advice. I really appreciate it. If we could only get our 7 yr old to not "love" them so much!

 

[bawkbawkbawk]

You're doing a very good thing to let your seven-year-old learn his way around animals - I know my own sons are better for having had pets and I feel sorry for the young people I see who are afraid of or, worse, unkind toward animals.

He'll learn from this. Maybe he needs a sturdy little puppy