How to tell if wings are broken? Please help!! **PICS ADDED**

[mmaddie's mom]

Ok, just brain-storming here... could you make a "shrug" for her (ladies you know what a shrug is)... around each wing and attached across the back/shoulders? It would hold the wings up and in place but still have some movement to keep balance?

Also, I have seen on BYC, using baby aspirin... for pain and inflamation?
Ok, that is my part of the brain-storm... can anyone build on that? ok, GO...

 

[SmittenChicken]

Thanks so much for the replies.

She seems to be looking a little spunkier, her wings are still down but they seem to be a little higher than they were before? It's hard to tell for sure, but her feathers aren't dragging anymore and she's moving a little more quickly. It still doesn't seem like she can move her wings, though. I'm going to try putting the wings in place again, but this happened two days ago now. Is it too late? I'll get her some baby aspirin too - thanks for the suggestions!

I still have her in isolation, but she seems lonely and I think she wants to be out with the other birds. Every time I go in there she has a couple friends talking to her through her screen door. I think she needs a little more quiet time, but once she's out will I need to give her a way to access the roosts and nest boxes? Will she be able to flap around at all or will her wings be frozen when they heal? It's not like she's light enough to do a lot of flying anyway, but I'd like her to be able to roost with the other girls and not be excluded.

Thank you guys again for the help. And chickenlvr, thanks for pointing that out! I took a look at my other LB and she has a few wonky feathers on her wings too, that made me feel a lot better.

 

[SmittenChicken]

Update-
I went out to put the girls to bed, and Salty was pacing in front of her door wanting to be let out. She came out into the main coop to socialize and scratch for treats while we watched, everyone was nice to her and she seemed to be moving around a lot more quickly. Her wings are still hanging lower than normal, but are not dragging like they were. I felt around the base and didn't feel anything obviously out of socket, but I couldn't really tell and didn't want to distress her.

She got upset and started flapping around after I put her back in her enclosure when the rest of the girls went on their roost, so I let her back out to see if she would/could try to roost. She went for it, and didn't quite make it, but she definitely was able to flap both wings and the range of motion looked almost normal to me. I put her up on the lowest roost and she seemed happy for a minute, then started getting ready to jump up to her usual spot on the top roost (between two other chickens). I didn't want her injuring herself so I put her back in her room, where she proceeded to give me her trademark stink eye through the screen door.

It seems like she is definitely still sore and has some inflammation, but I've got hope that there's nothing too physically wrong with her wings. As long as she's able to move them and they're not dragging, is it okay to just leave them unwrapped and see how they heal? I think I will still give her some baby aspirin to help with the inflammation, how much should she have? And can I crush part of a pill and put it in yogurt or something instead of putting it in her waterer? (I don't want to risk having her stop drinking if she doesn't like the flavor).

Thank you guys for all the replies, I'm so relieved to see her feeling better! She was sweet to begin with, but she is especially tame now. I can only hope she'll warm up the skittish EEs by telling them all about how I saved her life...

 

[Gayelynne]

Sorry to hear about your girl. I have the same problem going on with my girl. Yesterday I went out to check on my four girls and one had ended up hanging her self on my dog fencing I panicked ran to her she was almost dead I revive her and she came back to life. It was so scary. Her wing looks either broke or dislocated not sure. She is eating and drinking but not able to fly up to her perch. Should I get some vet wrap and just put that on her for ten days? Also when she was hung up between the two metal poles the other girls went to town on her rump. Now she's raw and bleeding there. I cleaned that and now I'm worried about her wing it's hanging down not touching the ground so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated?,?? And how much baby aspirin do I give her? Thank you for reading my reply here.