Hen with badly injured femur at the top.

[Bound to Sea]

Hello, my young Hamburg hen was injured mid December. She is barely a year old. I had hoped she would heal faster than she is. It's been 4 weeks. The top of her femur is jagged. I fear my Big Cochin roo has injured her by trying to mate. I didn't expect this to happen as my Silkie has never been injured by him. She has been seperated from the flock to heal. Do I wait another 4 weeks to see if she heals? Will it heal? Couldn't splint due to location. ( I thought) Get rid of my Roo for fear of hurting her again? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hello, my young Hamburg hen was injured mid December. She is barely a year old. I had hoped she would heal faster than she is. It's been 4 weeks. The top of her femur is jagged. I fear my Big Cochin roo has injured her by trying to mate. I didn't expect this to happen as my Silkie has never been injured by him. She has been seperated from the flock to heal. Do I wait another 4 weeks to see if she heals? Will it heal? Couldn't splint due to location. ( I thought) Get rid of my Roo for fear of hurting her again? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you!

Do you have photos?
The top of her femur is jagged? Can you feel it, is bone exposed?

You may find this splinting manual helpful.
https://theiwrc.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Duerr_Splinting_Manual_2010.pdf

 

[Bound to Sea]

No photos. Yes the top of femur is jagged. No bone out of place or exposed. Is it too late to splint?

 

[Bound to Sea]

She stands on one foot now. The injured leg has curled toes.

 

[blackandtan]

Poor girl!
By now the bone has certainly healed, perhaps in two pieces but certainly out of place or fragmented if you can feel jagged bits. I’ve set and splinted a fair few broken legs, but I’m no expert! Is vet an option? I think an X-ray is your best bet, and decide from there.

 

[Bound to Sea]

Thank you for the manual. I have seen this one before but not directly bandaging that area of the femur. I am not aware of any vets that see chickens, but thank you for the recommendation. I may have to look. Thank you.

 

[azygous]

So sorry about your hen. I can tell you're very concerned about her and care about her a lot. It sounds like serious injury, and those take quite sometime to heal. I have an 83 year old friend who is healing from a broken femur, so I'm getting to see first hand how long it takes to recover from a break in that bone. They say that even the most fit and youthful femur patients require a year for recovery.

I'm sure chickens heal more quickly, but I would guess your hen will need another month of rest to fully heal. Now, what can you do?

First, I believe you need to suspend your notion of only having one set way of managing a flock, namely taking the injured chicken out of the picture until she's better and can safely return.

Another way to look at this is that returning the injured hen to the flock to finish her convalescence might just be a better way and help her to recover more quickly than being alone. Along with this approach is an alternative way of managing the big rooster to make it safer for your hen.

Roosters do not need to have constant access to the hens. He can be just as content to see them, talk to them, but not access them. My two roosters do this a lot in spring and summer. In order to give the hens some breathing space, my roosters hang out outside the run most of the day and watch the girls from there. Later in the day, the hens go out for some ranging and then the roosters party with them then. I also have a "jail" pen and the roosters can be inside when the weather is bad.

If you could rig a segregated "jail" pen in your run, doesn't need to be very large since the rooster will be standing and watching the hens most of the time, you could then gradually reintroduce your injured hen to the flock. If you wish for the rooster to access the hens for a little while, you can switch places with him with the recovering hen, letting her occupy the segregated pen.

This way your hen can have the security and reassurance of her flock to help her recover more quickly, and she can be kept safe from the rooster until her leg is strong again.

Something that could help your hen recover faster would be to give her a daily dose of B complex to strengthen her legs. Extra calcium with D3 would also benefit her recovery of the broken bone.

 

[Bound to Sea]

So sorry about your hen. I can tell you're very concerned about her and care about her a lot. It sounds like serious injury, and those take quite sometime to heal. I have an 83 year old friend who is healing from a broken femur, so I'm getting to see first hand how long it takes to recover from a break in that bone. They say that even the most fit and youthful femur patients require a year for recovery.

I'm sure chickens heal more quickly, but I would guess your hen will need another month of rest to fully heal. Now, what can you do?

First, I believe you need to suspend your notion of only having one set way of managing a flock, namely taking the injured chicken out of the picture until she's better and can safely return.

Another way to look at this is that returning the injured hen to the flock to finish her convalescence might just be a better way and help her to recover more quickly than being alone. Along with this approach is an alternative way of managing the big rooster to make it safer for your hen.

Roosters do not need to have constant access to the hens. He can be just as content to see them, talk to them, but not access them. My two roosters do this a lot in spring and summer. In order to give the hens some breathing space, my roosters hang out outside the run most of the day and watch the girls from there. Later in the day, the hens go out for some ranging and then the roosters party with them then. I also have a "jail" pen and the roosters can be inside when the weather is bad.

If you could rig a segregated "jail" pen in your run, doesn't need to be very large since the rooster will be standing and watching the hens most of the time, you could then gradually reintroduce your injured hen to the flock. If you wish for the rooster to access the hens for a little while, you can switch places with him with the recovering hen, letting her occupy the segregated pen.

This way your hen can have the security and reassurance of her flock to help her recover more quickly, and she can be kept safe from the rooster until her leg is strong again.

Something that could help your hen recover faster would be to give her a daily dose of B complex to strengthen her legs. Extra calcium with D3 would also benefit her recovery of the broken bone.

Thank you for your advice on vitamins. A separate area for the roo may be a better way of management. My injured hen is with the flock but seperated by a wall of chicken wire. Anyone can visit but not touch her. I hope she does heal with more time. Such a beautiful bird. Thank you!