On our way to town today, we passed by a nearby families house. One of their light brahma pullets was lying in the road. I jumped out when I saw that she was still alive, and picked her up. She has a broken leg. The bone is broken about halfway between her knee joint and her hip joint. She has some scrapes on the leg, but nothing serious. I just need to fix the leg. Normall I would take her to a vet, but I just took one of my ducks who got attacked by a coyote last week and had to spend 80 dollars, so I really don't have the cash. Besides, he would probably just say to amputated it, and if I can fix it I want to try. They weren't at home when I picked her up, and I called several hours later and left a message. They aren't the type to try and fix her though, and since she's too small to eat, I doubt they will ask for her back. She's very pretty and alert. I'm sure some of you have fixed a broken leg before, so any tips are greatly appreciated.
What we have done for right now is shave off the feathers with an electric shaver so they aren't long and in the way. Then we wrapped the broken part with gauze and then wrapped over that with vet wrap. Do I need to put anything in there on each side to keep it from shifting or will the wrap be enough?
I've had two that have survived broken legs. Both times I've cleaned the break, wrapped with a clean gauze, then wrapped with vet wrap to stabilize the wrap. I keep them in a small cage to themselves for a few weeks allowing the breaks to heal. After awhile I did release them and they didn't put any weight on the injured legs, but hobbled around, hopping. eventually the legs healed, and they are walking without any limp. Jan
Thanks, that's pretty much what I figured. The owners called and let me have her, so I hope she does well. She's not eating or drinking though. Should I just contribute that to her shock?