How long for chicken bones to mend

[bruceha2000]

Hi all,
I have a hen that was on the floor of the coop last Thursday morning. She didn't seem to be able to stand but was bright eyed and talking to me. I couldn't see or feel anything physically wrong with her. I put her in the broody buster so she wouldn't get hurt further or just die from lack of food and water. She's been eating and drinking. Still bright eyed and talkative. She started standing a bit on Friday, then a bit more on Saturday but went back down fairly quickly. She was standing a fair bit when I was visiting with her today.

My GUESS is maybe she got pushed off the roost Wednesday night and broke or maybe just cracked a leg or maybe pelvic bone. Since she's standing pretty well now I think she will be OK. What I need to know is how long will it take for a broken bone to fully mend? I don't want to let her out of her secure area (though now I need it for a broody hen ) until I know she'll be safe to walk around with the rest of the girls. I guess I'll make a ramp to the 2' high roost to make sure she won't have to jump down. There is already a ramp to the 4' high roosts from the 2' high roost.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry about your hen. Fractures can be splinted and they can take 3 weeks to heal in chickens. If you can locate the site of the fracture, it might help to use this splinting manual below. On page 6 they discuss the length of time for splinting. On pages 18-22 there are pictures of leg splinting:
https://theiwrc.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Duerr_Splinting_Manual_2010.pdf

 

[bruceha2000]

Thanks Eggcessive. I've got the page open and read down to the section on how to check for fractures. Since she can and does stand now but wasn't originally able to I'll assume the issue is in the leg(s). I'll see if I can feel anything using the techniques in the article. At minimum it would seem that the answer to the "how long" question is maybe 3 weeks as chickens would fit in the "larger bird" category.