Hen with broken wing

[casportpony]

I really hate to say this, but I think your hen might have Marek's.

 

[Snicketysnoksnaksnik]

I really hate to say this, but I think your hen might have Marek's.

I considered it but my birds have no contact with any other birds really. I’m 30 minute boat drive or 5 hour hike away from the nearest town. No road leading to where I am. All the birds around me don’t interact with my poultry. I’m not sure how they’d even get Marek’s since I haven’t gotten any chicken or any birds at that recently

 

[HiEverybirdy]

Good on you for helping her. She's such a pretty chicken. It's tough from the video to see what's up, so I shared advice based on your broken-wing theory. Agree it would be strange for her to pop up with Marek's out of the blue. Also think her leg issue is slightly weird, though it's very possible she sprained it coming off the roost.

I could feel where our bird's bone was broken. At her "shoulder" area, there was a big bump that wasn't on the other wing. Did you get a sense of your bird's wing as you wrapped it, like if there were any weird bumps or the feeling of bones out of place?

It makes sense that she's calm if she's wrapped, but you'll have to go with your gut on whether that's a good thing: she might be relaxing and in less pain, but staying still can also be a fear response to not being able to move. Is she eating and drinking? Be sure she can get to water, food, and grit without having to move much since she's not too mobile right now.

Your wrap looks ingenious. Did you wrap the wing separately before securing to her body? I left our hen's good wing free so she could at least stretch that wing out even while the broken one was immobilized.

Again, make sure her crop is free and not compressed by the bandage, and that it's not too tight across her back, restricting her breathing. I was helped by this article (with a grain of salt; I never put our chickens on their backs): https://lafeber.com/vet/wing-wrap-placement-in-birds/

Pictures attached that show our Donna in a wrap that was a few days old, where she's groomed some feathers out of it but it was still safely immobilizing the wing. You can see her crop hanging out.

Donna didn't appreciate being wrapped, so when the wrap started looking ragged or loosening, I'd wait until dark when she was sleepy and go do the re-wrap.

Continued good luck!!

 

[Snicketysnoksnaksnik]

Good on you for helping her. She's such a pretty chicken. It's tough from the video to see what's up, so I shared advice based on your broken-wing theory. Agree it would be strange for her to pop up with Marek's out of the blue. Also think her leg issue is slightly weird, though it's very possible she sprained it coming off the roost.

I could feel where our bird's bone was broken. At her "shoulder" area, there was a big bump that wasn't on the other wing. Did you get a sense of your bird's wing as you wrapped it, like if there were any weird bumps or the feeling of bones out of place?

It makes sense that she's calm if she's wrapped, but you'll have to go with your gut on whether that's a good thing: she might be relaxing and in less pain, but staying still can also be a fear response to not being able to move. Is she eating and drinking? Be sure she can get to water, food, and grit without having to move much since she's not too mobile right now.

Your wrap looks ingenious. Did you wrap the wing separately before securing to her body? I left our hen's good wing free so she could at least stretch that wing out even while the broken one was immobilized.

Again, make sure her crop is free and not compressed by the bandage, and that it's not too tight across her back, restricting her breathing. I was helped by this article (with a grain of salt; I never put our chickens on their backs): https://lafeber.com/vet/wing-wrap-placement-in-birds/

Pictures attached that show our Donna in a wrap that was a few days old, where she's groomed some feathers out of it but it was still safely immobilizing the wing. You can see her crop hanging out.

Donna didn't appreciate being wrapped, so when the wrap started looking ragged or loosening, I'd wait until dark when she was sleepy and go do the re-wrap.

Continued good luck!!

I can’t feel any bones out of place, or any bumps. She’s been standing up and walking a bit, better and better. The wrap moved forwards so I’ll redo it and make sure her good wing is uncovered. At first I just wrapped her up, this time I’ll wrap her body first and then her wing if that’s what’s needed. I made sure her crop is free and that it isn’t too tight.

She’s eating a ton of papaya, tried giving her scrambled eggs but she’s not used to it so she ignored it. She’s eaten papaya, a small amount of pasta as a treat (3 small pieces) a bit of watermelon which she happily ate. Should I also give her chicken feed? I’ve been giving her wet food so that she isn’t too thirsty.
She isn’t drinking on her own so I’m giving her some. I’ve made sure that her food and water is in easy reach.

 

[HiEverybirdy]

That's great she's eating. I think it's usually better to stick with feed if they're eating okay. In my experience, treats are a godsend if it tricks a chicken into eating when they don't want to (seems to be a lot a bird's immune system can take on if they're taking in calories). But if a bird's all about food, the treats can get rich fast and cause their own problems after a while, especially if she's not exercising as much. Just don't tell her I suggested you give her less papaya...

The middle ground for me is mixing water into feed. Ours think squishy feed is a form of treats.

 

[Snicketysnoksnaksnik]

That's great she's eating. I think it's usually better to stick with feed if they're eating okay. In my experience, treats are a godsend if it tricks a chicken into eating when they don't want to (seems to be a lot a bird's immune system can take on if they're taking in calories). But if a bird's all about food, the treats can get rich fast and cause their own problems after a while, especially if she's not exercising as much. Just don't tell her I suggested you give her less papaya...

The middle ground for me is mixing water into feed. Ours think squishy feed is a form of treats.

I’ll see if she’s interested and give her some feed tomorrow (she’s never been too fond of feed, usually skipped the feed and went straight to eating grass and insects). I could try catch her some grasshoppers, she loves those and usually catches maybe 3 everyday.
Her normal diet is a bit hard to tell since I free-range her - it seems to be mainly made up of plants, insects a bit of feed and corn and sometimes if she’s lucky some sort of leftover

I think I’ve given her water maybe 8 times now, she hasn’t been too interested but I’ve forced her to drink

 

[Snicketysnoksnaksnik]

I’m actually starting to wonder if my male duck had something to do with her wing. He’s quite aggressive towards chickens and she was in his area when I found her injured

 

[Snicketysnoksnaksnik]

When I put her away should I take off the wrap incase it moves forwards?

 

[HiEverybirdy]

The wrap should stay on for 3 weeks. Any time the wing moves, it can re-break, and the clock restarts--3 weeks from then. If wrapped correctly, it'll stay in place. I'd keep trying to find vet wrap if I were you, for its convenience.

That's why it's important both you and the chicken are calm when you rewrap each time. You want to gently hold the wing in position as you unwrap and put the new wrap on so she doesn't do a surprise flap and mess up the whole thing.

And again, I'd also keep her inside at night and maybe during the day until she can function, especially if you're free-ranging. The way she's moving, even the other chickens might be a danger to her right now. Give her a few days' break to get used to the wrap and hopefully heal the leg.

 

[Snicketysnoksnaksnik]

The wrap should stay on for 3 weeks. Any time the wing moves, it can re-break, and the clock restarts--3 weeks from then. If wrapped correctly, it'll stay in place. I'd keep trying to find vet wrap if I were you, for its convenience.

That's why it's important both you and the chicken are calm when you rewrap each time. You want to gently hold the wing in position as you unwrap and put the new wrap on so she doesn't do a surprise flap and mess up the whole thing.

And again, I'd also keep her inside at night and maybe during the day until she can function, especially if you're free-ranging. The way she's moving, even the other chickens might be a danger to her right now. Give her a few days' break to get used to the wrap and hopefully heal the leg.

Okay, I’ll keep looking for vet wrap although I’m not sure if I can find it.
She’s quite calm when I wrap her, I just had to unwrap her and am holding her wing in position
I’m keeping her in at night and at day.

I gave her some feed and she’s eating it, she just seems to be tired. Still uninterested in water but I’m forcing her to drink