Leg not broken, but not usable

[farmerbrowne]

Help, I was doing fencing and found one of my hens laying by a roll of fencing not moving, her leg is stuck straight out from her not feeling any breaks. What's the safe thing to do????? It seems dislocated

 

[Kiki]

How long has she been like this?
Have you heard of this disease before:
The Great Big Giant Marek's Disease FAQ

 

[farmerbrowne]

It just happened maybe half hour ago, I was tensioning the fence and went for the new roll

 

[Eggcessive]

How old is she? Can she move her toes or lift her leg? Are her toes curled under? In the picture, it looks a bit like she may have a slipped hock tendon, which can occur with leg bone deformities, and in grown hens with an injury. Mareks disease could also be a possibility, but I would first rule out a vitamin deficiency, injury, or slipped hock tendon. Mareks usually affects unvaccinated young chickens between 3 and 25 weeks old, although it can strike any age. It can cause lameness or paralysis in one or both legs or wings, wry neck, lack of immunity to common diseases, tumors, skin irruptions, and sometimes eye changes. Get a good poultry vitamin containing riboflavin (B2) at your feed store, or use 1/2 tablet of BComplex crushed into feed daily with a little vegetable oil added. Make sure that she can reach her food and water, and if she is worse confine her to a basket or crate near it.

 

[farmerbrowne]

All the others are fine. I have a feeling that the poor bird rolled the fencing. Her leg was under it

 

[Eggcessive]

I would check to see if there is any swelling, bruising, or disalignment of the bones in her leg. She may have sprained the leg or hyperextended the joint. Is a vet available to xray it? If not, I would use my own judgement if you should try splinting the leg with padding and vet wrap, forcing her to rest it in a crate, pen, or cage, or just letting her do what she can to see how it goes. I wouldn't let her jump up and down off a roost. Hopefully, she will be able to get around to food and water and recover.

 

[farmerbrowne]

Currently have her in a cage with asprin water, I hope she gets better. There is no vets here that take care of chickens. I hope I don't have to learn to amputate the leg

 

[Eggcessive]

Please let us know how she gets along, and good luck.

 

[Christine972]

I have a hen who developed a very bad limp on September 1. I put her alone in a small cage to limit her use of it. I did not know if it was broken or dislocated or spraigned. Just hoped for the best. After two weeks she had improved some so I put her in a larger cage but still by herself. Now she is 99% recovered! PTL! I am a little nervous about putting her back with the flock though, worried that it may get re-injured and that the rearrangement of the pecking order could be rough.
Praying for a miraculous recovery for your hen too, farmerbrowne.

 

[farmerbrowne]

Update on firebeak, her foot is really warm and I suspect infection may set in soon if I don't amputate. Has anyone ever done a below knee amputation? What can I do? I don't want to loose her