Hen Has Hurt Leg Anything I Can Do To Help Her??

[kperki]

Hi,
My hen has a hurt leg, it is not the bottom of her foot it is more the hip area. She can not put her foot down it is like limp now just kind of hanging there. I have here in a Dog Kennel in the coop and it has been two days now. I am not seeing improvement. She is not a people person so I am trying not to handle her and stress her more. When we caught her to put her in the kennel we checked her out and she showed discomfort in the upper leg area. We did not see any blood or feel any abnormalities. She is eating good. Is there anything that I can do or give her to help? I had another hen that hurt her leg and after a week in the kennel she came out great but this ones leg seems worse. The vet had gave us metacam for our little dog when he hurt his leg, can chickens have that or is there an anti-inflammatory they can have?

Thanks!

 

[Eggcessive]

Chickens can have metacam for inflammation and pain. The dosage for meloxicam/metacam is in this link: http://www.portec.com.au/images/Poultry Drug Guide.pdf

You may want to check the height of your roosts and nest boxes in case they are too high. Upper leg fractures are hard to heal apparently, but hens can heal better than roosters. A vet could Xray the upper leg and hip to tell if there is a fracture or a sprain. Check to see if her hock or ankle joints are swollen or red. Some people use chicken slings to rest the legs, but I would at least confine her to a cage with food and water. Poultry Booster by Rooster Booster is an easy to find brand of vitamins and minerals that I would recommend that you give to her while she is healing. Here are some sling ideas:

 

[kperki]

Thank you for the info. Does the sling just keep them from standing up so the leg can heal? It seems like it would be so wobbly they would fall if they tried to stand and could get hurt more. I am just trying to understand what it does to help her? She is in a kennel just like that with out a sling and resting in there with her food and water.
I will check her ankles etc. I have the vitamins I think called liquid drench or something like that that she takes. We found a home for one of the roosters so they are re-establishing their pecking order so there is a lot of squabbling and moving around when they are going to bed right now. unfortunately a vet is not an option. Thanks you always give good help!

 

[kperki]

ok I could not see the legs coming through the fabric in the first and last pics and thought the second was something different. I read online about it. I will make that for her tomorrow. I got a little metacam in her and hopefully that will help plus extra vitamins. She is so feisty she does not like me holding her at all..The sling hopefully will make it easier for me to take care of her in the kennel, this way she can't go crazy in there when I open the door and put more stress on her injury. Thanks!

 

[fergyc2l2t316]

I had a female that had the same thing. With rest and confinement she healed up. It took a couple of weeks though. It was inflammation in her leg. She apparently had a tiff with another chicken and some how hurt the leg. It will take time and lots of love and care. Let us know how it goes. inflammation in a bird is like inflammation in a person. You just have to keep it from using it if you can't get anti-inflammatory meds for them. I know that you can give chickens aspirin and it is a anti-inflammatory like ibuprofen. But use only children's aspirin and only half of that. Unfortunately you can't give them ibuprofen. You can research it on BTC if you are unsure.

 

[kperki]

Ok I have tried the sling today and it was a disaster! I thought it was going to kill her! So I made it correctly, the problem is she is not very tame. I rescued this group and even tho they are pretty used to me I can not just go and pick them up and she has always been more nervous. I had her in the sling thought it was great and she was taking some of her meds off a spoon so I was not to close and then she starts flapping her wings and somehow ends upside down hanging and then got loose and was going nuts in the kennel I am sure doing more damage to herself. I do not want to add more stress to her so I try always to move slow, keep my distance etc. So I decided to try putting some Velcro I had around her body holding down the wings. I know it sounds awful but it wasn't. I didn't put it to tight but thought I have to keep the wings down. Well she was settled in, looking good and happy and then started trying to flap and got one of her wings out and managed to do the same thing and this time was just laying on bottom of kennel. Does anyone have any ideas on how better to keep her wings down. I put her back in the kennel with out the sling. I have to figure this out, it is her only hope I believe. I can't imagine it healing in the kennel how she is.
Thanks

 

[fergyc2l2t316]

Just keep her quiet and make sure she is clean. My duck was also this way, and she healed fine. I just made sure she was quiet comfortable and had food and water, plus her meds, and she healed real fast. That's the best you can do right now.

 

[rbaker0345]

I just had a hen go through this, I think it was a broken hip. My turkey mounted her! Stupid turkeys.

 

[fluffy rooster]

Help! My african rooster is limping/ jumping in one leg he just lays down or stands their but he also dosent eat because of his leg!! I checked it but nothing well he dosent move it his toes are like curled too, he moves his other leg perfectly fine! What do I do!?

 

[kperki]

Thanks I will try doing like you said and keep her quiet and resting as much as possible. I tried making a sling in so many different ways and each time she managed to end up laying on the bottom of the kennel floor. I think by trying all this with no luck I am just hurting her more. Poor girl. I hope I can get her through this..thanks..