Hurt leg

[orville911]

Hello Everyone! My husband and I are new to raising chickens. We currently have six girls. Hen, Re and Etta are 25 weeks old and Pen, Ella & Pea are 14 weeks old. Never thought in a million years how much enjoyment we would get from sitting outside watching our chickens. Everything was going along great until Monday...my husband accidentally dropped a board in the coop yard and it hit Etta. We thought she broke her leg at her hock, but we can't feel any breaks. She is not putting any weight on it, her foot is swollen and she seems not to have any feeling. We splint and wrapped it. Her foot is still warm to the touch and the skin color looks good, however, it is different than the healthy foot. We have been reading a lot of post here on Back Yard Chicken on what to do, so I hope we are on the right track. She is in a dog crate and we are making sure she is eating and drinking, which she is doing on her own. We tried putting her in a sling, but it did not work out. We will try again.

Should we soak her foot? And if yes, should it be ice water, warm water??? I've been placing a bag of ice around it a few time a day for 10 minutes. As far as the sling goes, should her good foot be able to touch the ground? Do you think she will recover and be able to use her foot again? I attached some pics of both feet to compare.

Any suggestions and ideas would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Dottie the Chicken]

Is it just me, or does her hurt foot look darker than the healthy one? Maybe you could try soaking her foot in a warm epsom salt bath?

 

[orville911]

Is it just me, or does her hurt foot look darker than the healthy one? Maybe you could try soaking her foot in a warm epsom salt bath?

You are correct, there is a distinctive difference in color. I soaked it this evening in warm water and sea salt, as I did not have any Epsom salt on hand. I will venture out tomorrow and pick some up. Can you recommend how often and how long I should soak her foot?