how to help a hen with a broken leg?

[blueskylen]

Hi,

i have a sweet little black austrolorp with a broken leg. i don't know how it happened, but it has been a couple of weeks. i thought she had just hurt it,but upon further investigation see that it is broken. i had put her in a cage and have been watching, but don't know if it is healing. i have been thinking about putting on a padded splint and taping it up for a couple of weeks to see if it sets. has anyone done this before?

i really don't want to put her down, as she is eating, drinking, laying eggs, and seems to feel fine otherwise.

 

[craftbug1021]

Had a bluff that a possum tried to pull thru cage and shredded and broke her leg, we cut it off with wire snips and that was 5 months ago. Kept her in a container in the house for 3 weeks she now hops to get where ever she wants to go and lives a normal life. I didnt bandage the leg just sat her on chucks (pads they use for puppies) She did loose all the feathers on her breast and underside from laying on it all the time but once she strengthened her good leg her feathers all came back and she is very healthy. She is even trying to fight the new hens for pecking order!!!

 

[Clay Valley Farmer]

If a broken leg has gone a couple weeks I very much doubt there could be much hope short of a vet opperating ($$$$$) for it healing well.

Splinting a broken bone on any animal is tough under the best conditions. If you could get the bones into place and find a way to have them held there for a couple weeks it might be worth a shot but otherwise I would tend to think the suffering would not be worth having the chicken alive.

Sorry.