possible broken knee/elbow in guinea

[teach619]

I have 8 guinea fowl that I got at 3 days old. One of them had prolapsed anus and so I was cleaning it's butt several times a day to get her to survive - she made it through and we named her Poopers because of it. She's the only one that has a name because she's smaller than the rest since that happen.

At about 2 weeks old I noticed she was limping. After watching her for awhile I realized that she was holding her left leg up at her body and was just jumping on one leg. I caught her and checked out her leg and didn't see any signs of injury, but obviously she'd hurt it. This was even worse for her since she was smaller than the others and so they would often step on her when they all ran to the corner of their cage.

I looked up information at the time and everything I read said that guinea often hurt their legs (they're not as strong as chickens) but that they heal themselves in time, so I just waited.

They are now 7.5 weeks old and it looks bad. Her elbow is bigger and her leg actually looks like it's turned a little out to the side. If you pictured the bottom shin/forearm of their legs being parallel to each other - her bad one is probably at a 30-40 degree angle away from where it SHOULD be.... I'm starting to wonder now if she broke it and now it's healing/healed together incorrectly...

I'm not going to put her to sleep (I think you all call it processing) I respect that option - as I eat chicken several times a day - I just can't have it done to an animal I know. What are my other options or what else do you recommend?

She is still smaller than the others but it's not as obvious, she still holds her leg up off the ground and has to hop on one leg... The birds have started to fly a little - but only in short spurts about 3-4 feet and not high off the ground. I was hoping that it may be okay in the long run since they do fly - but I know that guinea walk far more than they fly...

Experience? suggestions?

 

[Judy]

It does sound like it was broken and healed in the wrong place. I don't think there is anything you can do for it at this point. Even a vet might very well decline to try to fix it.

Just so you know, processing means preparing the carcass for eating. People often refer to culling a bird, which means removing from the flock -- which may be done by killing the bird, or giving it away, or putting it with a different flock, etc. Other than "cull," there isn't any special word for ending its life.

There are a lot of posts on here about birds who survive and apparently do well with one leg or a crippled leg. I have a crippled chicken myself. She gets picked on a bit, but wants to be with the flock, and I'm not going to end her life. She even lays eggs.

For future reference, as it seems to come up fairly often, this is the best reference I know for leg and foot problems:

https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry

 

[nipper75]

Hi. I seem to have the same problem. I bought a 3 week old guinea from agway on Saturday because I knew its days were numbered. it eats and drinks well and the only issue is the leg. I read about giving vitamin b complex to help heal leg problems so I started that today. I also put band AIDS around the injured area to try to support it so she can try to bear weight on it. only time will tell. good luck.

 

[teach619]

Update:

We had a mobile vet come out and I asked her flat out what I should do. She confirmed what I feared, the leg was broken and then healed back the wrong way. It wasn't fixable.

I noticed the day before she came that the other guinea were starting to peck at the injured one. The vet said that they would continue doing that (I know how that goes) and that because of how she walks on her leg it was going to get cuts and infections regularly. She said it would be best to put her down.

I asked if they would do it - behind their truck so we wouldn't have to watch. Afterward we put her in a box until I could dig a hole that night to bury her. We've never had to put any animal to sleep or bury one. I suppose I should be thankful that it was a bird rather than the goat or the dog that have slept in our homes, but it was still sad.

 

[TeamChaos]

Oh teach619, I am so sorry! It's hard to lose any creature we've shared our life with.