HELP- we trapped our birds leg under the tractor!!

[janosa]

We were moving the chicken tractor tonight and it landed on one of our birds legs. My husband felt the leg and determined it is broken. Does anyone have any suggestions to help this poor little chicken? She is about 12 weeks old and of course it had to happen to my 4 year olds favorite hen!! HELP.

 

[cw]

you could try to splint the leg, it wont be right but butter then nothin

 

[annek]

I have seen posts talking about splinting the legs. I have never done it but do a search on broken legs and look at their pictures of how to do it.

Hope she does okay!

 

[citrusdreams]

I really don't see why it can't get better and lead a *normal* life with normal function if it's treated properly. Do you know anyone who lives near you that can properly splint it?

What about a vet? I know some people wouldn't consider it, and while I don't bring my chickens to the vet, for a daughter's chicken, one might make an exception

I just think that if it's cared for properly, the chicken has the potential to be fine.

 

[janosa]

Fortunatly, my husband is an exparamedic and jumped right in this morning and splinted her leg. We did seperate her and give her food and water. She seems really lame right now. Any recommendations on whether or not to give her asprin and if so, how much? Also, is there any supplement that could possibly help? Thanks for your help and advice..... By the way my 4 year old named her "Table Picker Upper". I know it's a strange name but he is VERY concerned.

 

[Judy]

You did fine. Just needs common sense good nutrition, maybe yogurt for a little extra protein and calcium. If she's separate and kept calm, sounds like you did fine. That brightly colored wound wrap that has no tape, sticks to itself, can be a lot of help if you have trouble with the splint. I'd keep her house a bit on the dark side to encourage rest.

I did a search and found you can give one baby aspirin twice a day. If you're lucky she will eat it out of your hand.

Good luck. Lots here have gotten chickens through this just fine, even if they ended up a bit crippled.

 

[threehorses]

Agreed with ddawn!

Incidentally I've had a couple of ducks with broken legs, and even a goose once. (Boy that was fun.)

If you keep that wound airy, your husband will know how, and use ddawn's suggestion of Vet Wrap (they even have something comperable at the drug stores now for people - self-adhesive wrap) then she might just make it. They're remarkable.

The only thing with birds and breaks is that they seem to take longer to rehab than other animals. The bone takes longer to mend. Then she'll not be using the leg, hopefully. (I usually bound the legs up to the body to keep them from putting weight on it - except with the goose, where I couldn't.) But that means she'll lose a little ability to use it at first. Once they're out of the intensive doctoring cage for her leg break (limit mobility, you might keep a buddy in a cage near her to make her feel better) then they go into a medium-mobility rehab situation where they can walk a bit but not have to walk much to get to food and water. That way they rehab themselves and learn to walk again. that part takes the longest. They're gimpy for a while. But they can heal completely.

All three of my cases healed completely. (God bless paint-stirring sticks and duct tape, gauze and vet wrap!) They were all able to walk without a limp, even the big mama goose.

You could consider injectable antibiotics for internal infection protection. I didn't, but I probably should have. I'd go with the good ol' Penicillin G Procaine which is used every OTHER day (unlike most meds) at a rate of about 1/4th cc for average hen. There are other posts with this information around, or pm if you need more info on that.

Best of luck to you!