My Hen has an broken leg

[xx Georgina xx]

Hello,
I have never looked after a chicken with a broken leg before....
I have a legbar hen who has a sore leg
I think she hurt it while slipping down the ladder as it was all horrible and muddy, but I checked on all my chickens and they were fine after but wasn't sure on her, so I thought I will see how she is.
She seemed perfectly fine, then it really showed when the Cochin was mating with her.

We used to think the Cochin was a girl, but it showed signs of the big lad being a boy which was mating and trying to crow (but he cant) and he has gained a lot of confidence in my hens as he used to be frightened of all of them. (used to hide all the time) and he also weighs around 9.5 pounds, I think....
After the Cochin mated with her she laid there and didn't seem to happy
I have separated my leg-bar from all of the other chickens and gave her food and water.
But she is putting

on her other leg.
I have noticed that I hurt her a few times, like when I tried to set her on the ground, when I needed her to sit on my lap as I was making pen and when I looked to see what foot it was.
Can you please help me... What shall I do???

I will be asking to take her to the vet but what shall I do in the meantime??

Here's her
(its the one on the left)

 

[Alaskan]

I would feel her over and see if you can feel a break, or if it all feels normal.

You might want to first feel a couple of 'normal' chickens, so that you have an idea of what you should be feeling.

OK, if it is clearly a break, depending on where the break is, you might be able to splint it.

Also, depending on where it is, even if you can't splint it, she might not be too bothered by it (as long as you make sure that no roosters ever try to mate with her).

I have had two obvious leg breaks with my chickens. Neither break was where I could easily splint it.

The one chicken was clearly in pain, and I could not figure out any way to brace of splint the leg, so we put him down.

The other chicken actually acted pretty fine, clearly not in bad pain. It was a little bantam rooster, and he clearly couldn't put weight on the broken leg, but didn't act as if he was in pain. I kept him for a few months, and he learned to adjust.

Hopefully though, your girl is only sprained, and with a bit of quiet, where she doesn't have to move to much, she will heal nicely.

 

[ochochicas]

Is she putting any weight on the leg? If she is hobbling around on it, it probably isn't broken. Can she move it on her own?

I have a 5 month old pullet that has exactly the same issue. She started limping about a month ago and it progressed to her not being able to stand up at all. I thought it could be a vitamin deficiency or maybe even Marek's Disease. Then I realized our new rooster is smothering her in an attempt to do his job. The pullet seems to have either a hip or back injury. I am treating her for vitamin deficiency just in case. She gets vitamin B complex and also vitamin D and a little calcium in her food. She's been in the house for 2 weeks so she doesn't get re-injured. Today was the first day where I'd say she is actually walking. I have her in a cage full of hay. She can stretch out on her side and rest her legs, but usually she sits like a normal hen. I can see that the two sides of her back are not symmetrical so something in the region is not as is should be.

Keep her separated so she doesn't get injured more by another bird. If there is a broken bone, you should be able to palpate it and feel a break or swollen area. You can compare the bad leg to the good one to see what is normal. Chickens can also get a slipped achilles tendon which will make them unable to walk normally.

 

[xx Georgina xx]

We have had another that had an broken leg not that long after this (1 of the oldest ones)

 

[Alaskan]

Hummmmmm


Makes me wonder if something is lacking in your feed?

Do they eat a manufactured feed? Or mostly scratch? Or????

 

[xx Georgina xx]

They eat pallets, grit and grass
They used to eat corn and sometimes scraps.
They dont anymore as we got rats from scraps and corn well Ive askes my mum but she haant got any

Hummmmmm


Makes me wonder if something is lacking in your feed?

Do they eat a manufactured feed? Or mostly scratch? Or????

 

[darkbrahmamama]

I also had a hen with a broken leg. She didn't put any weight on that leg at all. The break was near the hock, & I was able to set & splint it the best I could. She spent a month in a homemade sling, & another month learning how to walk again. She made it a little over a year, but was found dead about a month ago. I assume from some issue related from the broken leg.

 

[xx Georgina xx]

Sorry for your loss.
I dont put splints on I try my hardest to strengthen the leg and find another way for them to walk.

I also had a hen with a broken leg. She didn't put any weight on that leg at all. The break was near the hock, & I was able to set & splint it the best I could. She spent a month in a homemade sling, & another month learning how to walk again. She made it a little over a year, but was found dead about a month ago. I assume from some issue related from the broken leg.

 

[darkbrahmamama]

It was a clean break, I had to set it, couldn't think of anything else to do for her other than put her down. She made it a whole year though. It was worth a try! She enjoyed her yogurt & herbs while she was healing though.

 

[xx Georgina xx]

It was a clean break, I had to set it, couldn't think of anything else to do for her other than put her down. She made it a whole year though. It was worth a try! She enjoyed her yogurt & herbs while she was healing though.

We put our's down as she struggled in there half.
We gave her a few weeks and if she didn't find another way to walk she had to be put down.

One of the other hens had the same problem, she was getting around but most of the time she needed to sit down, so we decided to put her down as we saw it was cruel to keep her alive and we found out it was a right thing to do when she let us to put her to sleep.