PLEASE PLEASE HELP! Dislocated Hip or Broken Leg?!

[chickenemily]

PLEASE HELP. One of my two month old chickens has injured her leg/hip area. Three days ago I found her laying down and she had difficulty walking. I separated her from the other chickens and she is eating and drinking well. Yesterday when I checked on her, her injured leg was sticking straight out in front of her body (almost like she was doing the splits). I carefully picked her up and inspected the leg which was limp and it seemed to have no broken bones in it, but was loosely hanging from the hip. She doesn't seem to be in a terrible amount of pain but she can no longer walk and continues to stick her leg in front of her body. My vet said she can't give me any help because my chicken isn't considered a "pet". I am a first time chicken owner and I have no clue how to help her.Has anyone ever encountered this problem?? Is her hip dislocated?? Does she have a broken leg?? Please let me know if you have any advice. I could also send a picture of her if that helps! Thank you!

 

[FlusteredChick]

I'm sorry to hear about your chicken. May I ask if you found any answers? Similar thing just happened to mine but bit by a dog and I'm not sure what to do about her leg. Thanks.

 

[chickenemily]

@FlusteredChick Along with my post I emailed several vets who surprisingly had no advice for me. I still have her separated from the others but she is able to see them and she always has fresh food and water. My approach was just to let the leg heal on its own and for the most part it has! However, she can still not walk but is trying to. I also give her half of a baby aspirin everyday. I would try to monitor your chickens' pain levels by seeing if she is extremely uncomfortable or squawking loudly and see if she is eating and drinking well. Hopefully this helps a little and good luck!

 

[FlusteredChick]

Thank you for responding! Good luck to yours as well.

 

[my ladiies]

My chicken was attacked by another chicken and in the process her leg was dislocated-she gets around, eats and drinks-can anyone tell me how to get it back in place. It's not broken because she will grab my finger with it, it just hangs? Thanks

 

[emmaie892000]

At the very top of her leg, see if you can feel the edge of the socket. If you can, that means it is probably dislocated. To push it back in, I would assume you would do the same as we do with people. Get her gently restrained, find which direction you need to push towards the socket, and give it a firm, quick push in that direction. You may hear a pop. Of course, it's probably just as painful for chickens to re-align it as it is for humans, so I would try my hardest to get it right the first time.
Before you do any shoving, make SURE it's dislocated though, or else you may just cause further injury. If it's hanging limply it could be a torn muscle or something else.
If it is dislocated though, it will have to be put back before healing can occur.

 

[Traci Top]

Did anyone answer you? I just found one of my hens with the same thing.Her leg is swollen but she's still flexing her toes.It looks like a hip dislocation to me.

Traci

 

[Traci Top]

Ok I guess I had to start an account to view the responses.. So awful looking. I'll try to get some pain meds and get her leg back in place .After a good once over of course.

Thank you folks

Traci