Her wing is detached from body, should I amputate?

[GopherBoyFarms]

She is a 6 month old red star named Scratchpad. I noticed a few days ago her wing drooping...she was almost tripping over it. Today I saw her out in the yard with the rest and her wing was hanging so far that it was between her legs and she had begun to walk funny to compensate for it. So after examining her I noticed that her wing is not connected to her body any longer. There is no obvious injury- i mean there is no break in the skin, no feathers gone or broken. I felt around at the very top of her wing and it seems to just be hanging by the skin. I dont know what to do. I wrapped that wing to her body with vet wrap and she didnt mind at all.
Her one eye (same side as the detatched wing) looks less bright and a little droopey but her other eye looks bright and happy.
she still lays an egg every day, and eats and drinks and has been free ranging with the rest of the flock. Is it possible that icould just pop it back into place, or should I maybe put a rubber band on it and wait for it to fall off???

thanks
I will try to get a picture of it tomorrow.

~Tiff~

 

[Elite Silkies]

I would say she needs to go to the vet. I myself would not try to amputate a wing. I am not sure how much blood loss would occur.

Maybe, someone else has some good info to give.

 

[77horses]

Bring her to the vet! That's my best advice. Have never dealt with this situation you are in but it's common sense; it you try to help and don't know what you're doing, you could make it worse or even kill her. I don't mean to sound harsh but it would be best to get a vet's advice and go from there. Please do post pics.

Good luck and I hope she turns out OK.

 

[fowlgirl]

That is wierd! Please go to vet so we can learn what it is . But if you cant get her to vet due to $, I would cut it off.Look up the anatomy of the hen online to see if there aer any arteries from cavity to wing,I dont think there are.Ive eaten plenty of chicken wings and Ive never encountered a wing vein.Sounds like its detached from first wing bone.You will have to wrap her for awhile.

 

[journey11]

Yes, to the vet, definitely. Having processed many meat chickens, I can't imagine what would cause a dislocated wing like this. I have found them to be, even postmortem, the hardest part of the bird to debone! Maybe she has a birth defect that made it instable?

If it appears that the wing still has bloodflow to it, they may be able to put it back in socket. If it has started to atrophy, they will probably have to do an amputation. That is not something I would try at home if you want this chicken to survive. It will cause her balance to be affected (difficult to jump to perch), but she may still be able to have a quality of life without it.

Boy, you just never know what kind of weird chicken problems you'll encounter sometimes! I hope your girl does well and recovers!

ETA: Let us know how this turns out!

 

[77horses]

http://4hembryology.psu.edu/pictures/figure3.gif

 

[Nostalchic]

There most certainly are arteries going into the wing: arteries, veins and nerves. Think of this as her shoulder joint - the joint is either dislocated or there is a fracture of what would be the upper arm bone (humerus). And this is not like striking off the head of a bird, which would (we think!) quickly feel no pain - this would be enormously painful (unless you have some anesthetic available) and the danger of shock and infection would be high. I think it would make more sense see whether you can feel the bone, if there is a break there, or attempt to place the wing in an anatomic position and strap it there securely IF you cannot or do not wish to consult a veterinarian, which I can understand. It's possible that it might heal if splinted.

 

[chickensioux]

Oooh, so sorry this happened. Even as an animal health tech. I would not attempt this on my own. I would take it to a vet. Hope it will be ok.

 

[GopherBoyFarms]

thanks for your response. today was a busy day, poultry show out of town, and trying to catch up on chores once home. She is doing fine today...her wing is still wrapped to her body as I did it yesterday. I asked around at the show (4H leaders and others I knew) and almost everyone said...tie twine around it and tighten it each day till it falls off....or cull her.
A vet is out of the question....one person is laid off here and the other (me) is a stay home mom that has been looking for work for over a year. Tomorrow is a new day and our family will talk it over then.
I have done minor "surgery" to a chicken with bumble foot with great results and patch a chicken up that was scalped by flying into a wall...and if it comes down to it...I am the one here that has to cull. So.....hopefully we make the right choice for her.

thanks

oh, and 77horses thanks for the link but I already have all the chicken skeletal, muscular, and internal diagrams but I know there are many people that dont.