Hen with crooked toe- dislocated or broken? Photos enclosed

[mrskenmore]

Hi All,

A few days ago, noticed my hen slightly limping and favoring one leg, turned out she banged up her toe pretty good probably leaving the perch in the morning.

1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
A 1 year old Cuckoo Maran Hen- aprox 6 lbs- no change in weight

2) What is the behavior, exactly-
crooked toe on right foot after perching for the night, was limping and favoring her good foot

3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? a few days

4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? no

5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. no

6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. found her early in the morning with a crooked toe- so either she jumped of the perch weird in the morning.. stumbled exiting the coop

7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
regular organic soy free layer pellets as always and plenty of fresh water

8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
normal

9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
separated her in a crate for two days, bandaged up her toe

10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
I feel I have stabilized her and before going out to the vet in a pandemic.. wanted to see if anything really could be done

11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
posted

12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
sand

 

[coach723]

If you are able to move the toe into a normal position then a shoe type splint may be better to get it to heal in a more normal position.
You can sometimes just use layers of vet-wrap/co-wrap on the top and bottom, sometimes you may need to use a piece of something more substantial under the foot (like a plastic food container lid cut to size) on the bottom and tape the toes to that. Use a tape that you can remove easily when needed, athletic tape tends to be a bit less gluey than some others.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I did! - it can be found here

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...broken-photos-enclosed.1404113/#post-23046176

I have her foot taped right now... I was unsuccessful with the splint and the vet is on vacation today. We also have no power for him to have done the x ray yesterday due to Isaisis

I just want to confirm it will heal well and that she is not in pain... without the vet I am doing the best I can to ensure it will heal if taped

Was any of the skin broken - you don't see any bone sticking out?
I've had a hen with a broken toe, even by taping it, it still turned out being crooked - it never seemed to slow her down. The taping did help for a couple of weeks to stabilize the toe.

 

[mrskenmore]

Was any of the skin broken - you don't see any bone sticking out?
I've had a hen with a broken toe, even by taping it, it still turned out being crooked - it never seemed to slow her down. The taping did help for a couple of weeks to stabilize the toe.

Correct, no bone sticking out, no swelling or redness. She just was limping and staying off it the first few days. When she let me examine her she let me touch it and wasn't in pain from what I could tell. When I moved it back from the crooked position to the correct position I heard and felt it pop. So I am no vet but that is why I believe it is dislocated. I taped it up for more support and so she wouldn't further damage it. I am going to take a look today, but I don't know if it will heal straight or want to just go back to the crooked position if it is a dislocation.

 

[mrskenmore]

Here is a progress pic of the toe while I changed the wrap today. Looking good!

 

[mrskenmore]

Note that her toes always curled in but at least it is not bent back on itself

 

[coach723]

Looks a lot better. If it will heal that way it will be a lot more comfortable for her!

 

[mrskenmore]

I agree!! Now if I only knew how long I need to wrap it like this so it properly heals!

 

[coach723]

I would give it a couple of weeks at least. Not knowing if it's a break or not, hard to say how long it will need.