Help!! Rooster with broken leg.

[Eliz]

I think my rooster's leg is broken. It seems to just be hang and limp at the hip. He is still walking around on the other leg and crowing and seems ok other wise. No skin broken. Can I split the leg to heal? If so how? Please help!

 

[Emzyyy]

Im not a expert or anything but my hen's leg broke at the hip and was impossible for me to splint it and help it heal so I had to put her down I think it really depends on where it is broken. Can you feel where the break is?

 

[Eliz]

I think the break is pretty high up on the leg. It kind of just hangs there and if you touch it, it kind of spin right to left. Very strange to see the leg move like that.

 

[chickensioux]

Usually a break that is high in the leg is difficult to fix. You can try to imobilize the leg but I'm not sure how to go about it that high up. If he eats and drinks and gets around and is not in pain then of course it is up to you to judge his quality of life. You might want to wait and see to see if he will be ok. Maybe perhaps put him on some antibiotics for any secondary infection.

 

[Eliz]

I found where the break is. I have splinted the leg and also put it in a sling -like thing where the bone feels straight. I also put him in a small dog create with food and water so that he won't injure his self any further. What type of antibiotics should be used for this type of injury? Thanks for any help.

 

[FarmerDenise]

Personally I would not use antibiotics, unless there is an infection. Since you figured out a way to immobilize the leg, I think just keeping him in the crate should do just fine. Chickens heal very fast. Make sure the sling is not hindering his breathing. If you redo it every day or every other day, you'll be able to tell the progress.
I think you are doing everything that needs to be done.
I wouldn't give pain medication either, because then he'll be tempted to use the leg sooner than he should.

 

[Eliz]

Update and another question:

He is still in his splint and seems to be dealing with it the best he can. He hates being in the cage and not running around with his hens

But they seem to know what's going on and staying close to his cage and not free ranging much.

One thing that seem to concern me is his eating and drinking. I don't see him doing a lot of either. I am heading out soon to dig up some of his favorites (grubs) to try. What else could I feed him that would be good for him and also help with healing his broken bone?

 

[KattyKillFish]

you can bribe him to drink with a small bit of sugar in the water, lots of water will help aid in healing. alot of treats will keep him from getting bored thus reducing the stress and likely encourage him to eat his regular food. also, give him some oyster shell for the calcium he'll need to repair that bone. i hope he'll be okay best of luck to him and to you

i hope all goes well.

 

[chickenzoo]

You can give him scrambled eggs, warm mushy dog food, yogurt, etc. Hope he heals well, but I did have a friend that had a one legged roo that did just fine, he evened chased her three legged dog, he he. He just leaned against things to stop.

 

[Eliz]

Well it has been a week....
In this week his leg has swollen then in the last couple of days the swelling went down. The one thing that is of major concern to me now is that some of the skin on his leg and where the leg meet the body has some light to bright green color on it. Could this be what bruising looks like on a chickens skin? The leg is just as warm as the other. But could it be gang green (not sure on spelling)?? Any body with any information plz reply.

Thank