Injured Leg

[egizzi]

9 month old
got out of the coop 2 weeks ago and a predator must have attacked her
I have no idea how she survived
Mostly lost feathers from her lower leg
Limping
I didn't see any two weeks ago but not it looks swollen and is bleeding
She is eating well and is social but clearly is moving delicately though she can run

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello and welcome to BYC!

If she were my bird, what I would do is first soak the leg in some sort of saline solution or iodine. Get a warm tub of water and either put in some iodine or bit of salt. I would soak the bird for a few minutes so it penetrates into that wound. Then I would towel her up and lay her on my lap, feet up, head at my belly, and I would apply some antibacterial ointment. You can use neosporin but the kind without the pain killer only. Then I would put some gauze over the wound and wrap it with vet wrap. You can get vet wrap at most feed stores in the horse section and even Walmart now carries vet wrap. You will probably need to start the wrap above the wound, go down to the pad and around the webbing and back up to keep it where you want it. You will have to experiment with the wrap. Then keep her someplace clean and dry.

I would do this daily for a few weeks. If she starts to show some serious infection in her body, (she is lethargic, fevered, not eating, etc..) then you might get her on some Baytril or Doxycycline. But for now, I would treat this topically.

Good luck and keep us posted!! I hope she makes a full recovery!!

 

[TwoCrows]

Oh and will probably need to cut the feathers on her leg off unfortunately. You might be able to work around them, maybe.

 

[egizzi]

Thanks for those tips. I sent some photos to a local vet. She suspects a broken leg as well. Completed:

Betadine
Neosporin
Splinted
Caged
Indoor

Wait

We'll see!

She is actually 1 of 3 chickens my mother raised for me and gave me in August. My mother died about 2 months ago, so I have some extra incentive to keep her healthy!

 

[TwoCrows]

Oh, I am so sorry about losing your Mom!

Never easy to lose a parent.

Yes, she could have a broken leg as well. If you splinted it up well enough, they can heal up quite well.

Keep up the good work and please keep us posted!!

Thanks for those tips. I sent some photos to a local vet. She suspects a broken leg as well. Completed:

Betadine
Neosporin
Splinted
Caged
Indoor

Wait

We'll see!

She is actually 1 of 3 chickens my mother raised for me and gave me in August. My mother died about 2 months ago, so I have some extra incentive to keep her healthy!

 

[egizzi]

Two weeks later.....
splinted, bandaged, housed, fed. Dressings/splints changed multiple times.
Still a scab and the moment we took off the dressing and left it off, she pecked her scab until it bled.
She is not really using the leg and it appears that there must be nerve damage as her toes are curled up and she doesn't really move them.

I dressed her wound again(it still looks pretty bloody) and put her out in the pen where she was summarily attacked, though she did fight back.

I think the end is here for her. I just don't see a way she can survive. I can't keep her indoors. And her leg is probably permanently damaged.

 

[egizzi]

Okay, here we are now 2 months after the original injury. We changed the splint weekly for about 6 weeks. The most successful splint was with the handle of a plastic milk jug (slit on one end).

She was rather pathetically not bearing any weight on her leg, moving it regularly up and down but it seemed like there was nerve damage.

Well, 2 months later, she is basically walking okay. I left the splint on for the final 3-4 weeks, probably a little too long but there was no time in the day to swap it out...and she was improving every week.

She's laying eggs now.

Pictures of the leg...my hope is that she doesn't peck at it like she did before and open up the wound again.

Success!

 

[ryanhodapp]

Hurray for both of you. Thanks for the update