My chicken has a broken or dislocated leg... Help? :(

[Denise Plush]

I’m struggling with the same situation right now. The other chickens are merciless to my injured chicken. Even my most docile hen pecks her if I give them contact. She is so isolated and they are such social animals. Right now she’s in a pet carrier in the house. We only have a dog/cat vet within 120 miles. I’m going to see if he can help me attempt to relocate the leg. She’s a lovely bird.

 

[hayley3]

My vet just immobilized the leg on my guinea hen and I kept her isolated for 6 weeks and she healed. My chicken who couldn't walk, I didn't take her to the vet and she couldn't use one leg at all. I just put her in an outside cage so she couldn't move very much to hurt herself and she was away from the others. I put her back with the other chickens at night in a small cage to give her hope. I had to move her around during the day so she'd have a clean place to lay and I was afraid I would have to do that forever. Eventually she did heal. With time most wounds/injuries do heal with proper care.

 

[omanadia]

I thought I should update this, since I got a reply on it.

I didn't have the heart to put down this chicken, Henrietta, she is one of my favorite hens, definitely a pet and well I have become way too attached to her, I know.

So I tried putting her legs back in and stuff but really I just think it was broken and I really dont think I ended up doing anything helpful for her aside from seperating her from the others who would've pecked her to death.

I put her in an extra large dog crate, and gave her fresh food and water every day. Dragged the giant cage into the fresh, shady air in the daytime and back into the barn every night (which was too hot during the day, she would pant). Luckily it was summertime and I didn't have to keep her in my house. I used hay for bedding so she always had a soft place to lay and she basically didn't move much for the entire summer. About halfway through, she had started limping around her cage a little bit. By about July/August we let her out into the yard a little bit for short supervised periods, (cuz she couldn't get away from dogs, other chickens etc). By October I tried putting her in the coop. I have to admit I was scared to do it. I refused to put her in the coop with the rooster who I think broke her leg in the first place.. just with a few older docile hens and two young ones.

I made her a nesting box with a very short roost on the floor which she used for a short time, but before long she was on the lowest roost and now she's up on the top with all of her friends in a tight warm little row.

Aside from not being able to run, and having a noticeable limp, she is very well recovered and comes to meet me when I pull into the driveway. I open my car door, and there is my little Henrietta, clucking up at me. I'm glad to have her. I know she's old and her time will come, but I'm really glad it wasn't last April because of a stupid accident.

I'm glad your hen recovered! I have a hen that hurt her leg too about a month ago and I haven't had the heart to put her down. At first she could barely walk but now she can walk but stumbles sometimes. I can tell by the way she uses one leg at an angle to balance herself that it's probablly a dislocation. I'm hoping that she will fully recover. All I did was make it easier for her to get to her perch and up and down stairs by adding more stairs and a riser to her coop perch so she wasn't straining herself too much.

 

[Tristin2014]

I thought I should update this, since I got a reply on it.

I didn't have the heart to put down this chicken, Henrietta, she is one of my favorite hens, definitely a pet and well I have become way too attached to her, I know.

So I tried putting her legs back in and stuff but really I just think it was broken and I really dont think I ended up doing anything helpful for her aside from seperating her from the others who would've pecked her to death.

I put her in an extra large dog crate, and gave her fresh food and water every day. Dragged the giant cage into the fresh, shady air in the daytime and back into the barn every night (which was too hot during the day, she would pant). Luckily it was summertime and I didn't have to keep her in my house. I used hay for bedding so she always had a soft place to lay and she basically didn't move much for the entire summer. About halfway through, she had started limping around her cage a little bit. By about July/August we let her out into the yard a little bit for short supervised periods, (cuz she couldn't get away from dogs, other chickens etc). By October I tried putting her in the coop. I have to admit I was scared to do it. I refused to put her in the coop with the rooster who I think broke her leg in the first place.. just with a few older docile hens and two young ones.

I made her a nesting box with a very short roost on the floor which she used for a short time, but before long she was on the lowest roost and now she's up on the top with all of her friends in a tight warm little row.

Aside from not being able to run, and having a noticeable limp, she is very well recovered and comes to meet me when I pull into the driveway. I open my car door, and there is my little Henrietta, clucking up at me. I'm glad to have her. I know she's old and her time will come, but I'm really glad it wasn't last April because of a stupid accident.

Hi

 

[Tristin2014]

Hi I am dealing with one of my chickens who has a leg that seems to have a problem at what I would guess is the knee area. She gets around but can not stand on her legs. I don’t see any broken bones and dose not seem to be in any pain. She eating drinking with out any problems. Not sure if it is dislocated but want to splint it. Not sure how to do this. Any suggestions on how to do this

 

[JayR21]

Loved the update! Thank you