Injured chicken leg

[callmecordelia2]

Hi. Tonight my kids were closing the coop door and turning on their heat lamp, and one of them accidentally stepped on one of the chickens.They are only 6 weeks old and only introduced to the copp this week (New England: 50 day, 30 night).The chicken appears lame. Any advide on splinting/treating a young chicken leg?

 

[seminolewind]

With the treatment, it depends. If it's not bad and the chick can get around pretty well, you may want to keep an eye on her, or put her in a small area with a heat lamp. If it's bad, you can splint the leg, and keep her in a sling, takes about 4-6 weeks.

 

[callmecordelia2]

Thanks! I am concerned that the hip is dislocated. Anyone with advice on that?

 

[seminolewind]

I would think that would need some kind of manipulation to get the bones back to position.

Chickenzoo is good with orthopedics, maybe pm her.

 

[callmecordelia2]

I called our local country vet and she said she would have no idea what to do for her. She thought I should put her with the others and see what happens, checking to be sure she isn't getting picked on. The thing is, the chicken simply cannot walk. If she tried, she topples over. It is really sad to see. I have the number of a wildlife rehab lady whom I will call, but she is a very long drive from here. Has anyone had something like this happen, and did the chicken survive? I fear she will either die, or be pecked at by the others. She's just 6 weeks old and they just started in the coop a few days ago.

 

[Wimberleytexaschick]

I have a 5 week old chick with a hurt foot/ankle. I am not sure what is wrong, but she is having trouble bearing weight on it, swollen joint area above foot. I had moved them to the barn the day before, checked them in the morning, went out at noon and found her on her side under the nest boxes with some blood on her foot. 3 walls are wood, and one is 1/2" hardware cloth, so I have no clue what she did, or got caught in. I brought her inside, cleaned her up and isolated her in a brooder. Each day, she is showing improvement and I am hopeful that she will recover. She is now trying to stand on it, slowly. I think that rest is key and you probably should separate your chick to give it the time it needs to heal, that would give it the best shot. I am sure, my chick would not have made it out with all the others, too hard to get to the food, etc. Good Luck, hope she heals!

 

[callmecordelia2]

Hi. Thanks for your reply. The vet had suggested putting it out with the others, but I think you're right, I'll keep her in. I did worry that she would get pecked when she reappears because of being away from the group, but that would not be as bad as getting pecked now because she's injured. My main concern is she really can't move at all, so how to feed her? She has dishes of food and water in her box, but she really can't lift herself to get to them even though they are right near her, and picking her up causes her pain. Any ideas?

Thank you!!

 

[dawg53]

Quote:
Recovery from these types of injuries isnt good. You will have to make a watery mash with her feed, syringe feeding her 5-6 times a day, not including syringe feeding her water to drink, you'll have to do that as well. She will need to be kept in a cage /crate till she's healed. You dont want her with the others, they will pick/peck her to death. These type of injuries take time to heal. Sometimes a week, a month or several months or never. You can try adding vitamin B complex, crush a couple of tablets into powder and add it to her syringe feeding. It may or may not help in her recovery depending on the severity of the injury. If there's no improvement after a week to 10 days...take in consideration her quality of life, I then recommend that you cull her. Hopefully you'll have the time and patience to help her, if not, I recommend that you cull her now.