Leg/foot injury

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi Jill.

I think I she will probably restrict her own activity. I would keep her near the others but on clean dry bedding.
It looks like she's damaged the scales on her leg as well. I would put a little triple antibiotic ointment on that during the day to help it heal.
See if the swelling goes down a little by tomorrow, you can always soak in the epsom salts a few days after injury to help reduce swelling and bruising.

Poor thing! I'm glad you found her, chickens can get themselves into all sorts of trouble.

 

[JillD413]

Hi Jill.

I think I she will probably restrict her own activity. I would keep her near the others but on clean dry bedding.
It looks like she's damaged the scales on her leg as well. I would put a little triple antibiotic ointment on that during the day to help it heal.
See if the swelling goes down a little by tomorrow, you can always soak in the epsom salts a few days after injury to help reduce swelling and bruising.

Poor thing! I'm glad you found her, chickens can get themselves into all sorts of trouble.

Thanks! The area where she is has visual access by all other flock members. Her sisters stayed in close proximity to her all afternoon yesterday. One of my concerns is Buffy, the lowest in the hierarchy of the laying hens, tends to chase the pullets. I didn’t/don’t want Buffy to compound any issue Flossie might have. I’ll let you know how she is doing this morning. I’m happy to say that I saw Flossie stand and drink water right before dark last night. I did hand feed her a couple of times after her injury. Flossie was fed 10% fat content Greek yogurt and some Hot Cake which she gobbled up!

 

[JillD413]

Well she is still not putting any weight on the hurt leg. It is still swollen. She does eat and drink. Hopefully she will get better.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Well she is still not putting any weight on the hurt leg. It is still swollen. She does eat and drink. Hopefully she will get better.

It can take several days for swelling and bruising to go down.

 

[WindingRoad]

My 18 week old pullet managed to get her leg hung in the arm of a garden chair. She was hanging upside down when I got home. I was gone for about an hour and a half. When I freed her she could barely walk on the leg that was hung. It does not feel like any bone was broken. She is isolated with food and water. Epsom soak? Leave her alone to heal? Work her leg and foot as therapy? Suggestions please.

On August 11th one of my white leghorns got her leg caught in a wire dog cage.. She was down for about a week and a half. I was feeding her in a nest box and keeping the other birds away. She couldn't stand to use a feeder. She would just plop down and eat that way. But for a time she wouldn't eat or drink. She was in pain. Some of the other birds were pecking and chasing. So I started taking her out into a smaller coop I had and locking her in there so the others would let her eat. I used a lot of meal worms to entice her. At about 3 weeks she was back with the flock and now shows no signs of injury. Please be patient with your girl. She will get better. I let mine get on the roost when she was strong enough. Except for eating and drinking I let her run the show.

ETA. I did give her one baby aspirin morning and evening. I think that helped.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Well she is still not putting any weight on the hurt leg. It is still swollen. She does eat and drink. Hopefully she will get better.

I agree can take time for any progress

 

[JillD413]

It can take several days for swelling and bruising to go down.

I had her soak in a warm epsom salt bath for about 15 minutes, put some blue ointment on her leg, wrapped it in a thin layer of gauze then taped it for a small amount of pressure to help reduce the swelling. I think there should be some sign of improvement after a week. Oh - I also put vitamins in her water. Hopefully the efforts will help.

 

[pennyJo1960]

I would not leave the wrap on for long JMHO

 

[lysmandor]

I would in general agree - wrapping things too tightly can cause more damage if you start to cut off blood supply.

 

[WindingRoad]

My 18 week old pullet managed to get her leg hung in the arm of a garden chair. She was hanging upside down when I got home. I was gone for about an hour and a half. When I freed her she could barely walk on the leg that was hung. It does not feel like any bone was broken. She is isolated with food and water. Epsom soak? Leave her alone to heal? Work her leg and foot as therapy? Suggestions please.

I looked at your pic. I'm not trying to make light of her leg. My bird would not open her toes as she got that foot really stuck in the wire cage right up to where her feathers are on her leg. She could not weigh bear at all. She could hobble to get away from other birds. I did PT on the leg. Just straighten it out back and forth. Took about 2 weeks where she would limp on it. My biggest concerns were pain management. Baby Aspirin morning and night and making sure she was eating and drinking. Feeding and waterer her away from the others as I said before. I feed her about every 2 hours. Funny bird she won't have anything to do with me now even after all that TLC. My other bird who I believe jumped off the high roost and hurt her foot. Sprain I think. She hangs around me all the time. Right beside me in the run and coop. And won't go away until I pick her up. She is a BR. Good luck have patience if you can. Make sure she is eating, pooping and drinking. This was traumatic for her and she is probably a little depressed. Mine was.