Possible Broken Leg

[RockyToggRanch]

Can you give her a dish of water? Do you know who owns her? Would they be worried about her?

 

[edie]

Brahampooter, the chickens in our neighborhood roam freely. I think this was one that was born in our barn (we have a couple that sleep on top of our hay stack and roam our pasture - they are not ours but they made our property their home), I'm not sure who owns the chickens who produced the parents, and even the chickens parents might not belong to anyone. We know the pet chickens people around us own, this is not one of them. And the bird does have a dish of water, I haven't seen her drink out of it so I gave her a little from a syringe, and I'll give her more later.

puckbunny87, I am just going to keep her comfortable unless something changes. I hope the Metacam helps with the pain a little, since that is all I can offer her right now.

 

[Wynette]

Oh my. Well, it's a good sign that she's eating and drinking. I have to say, if it was me, I'd try to pull that leg out and get it to pop back in. It will be painful for her, but I think the longer it's dislocated (assuming that's what is going on), the more chance it could be cutting off circulation to nerves and tissue, which would result in a slow, painful death eventually. I have absolutely no experience with this, but if you can feel that there is not a break, I can't imagine what else it could be other than a dislocation. She surely cannot continue to live like she is, especially since she's a free ranger. She'll surely be lost to a predator since she won't be able to get away.

My DD is a nurse; I recall her talking about putting a man's arm back into the shoulder socket when it was dislocated; he was restrained by a few other nurses, then she held his arm above his wrist, put her foot under his armpit, and pulled....VERY painful, but she did get it popped back in. Might be worth a try??

Hopefully, others will hop in & give some opinins for you!!

 

[edie]

Quote:
Thank you, my mom said that if the chicken did survive but suffered permanent damage from the injury we would set up a coop for it so it would be safe from the neighborhood cats and the horses. I had read online somewhere that it might be a good idea to try to call a bird rehabilitatior about this so I'm going to get some numbers for my mom and she'll call and see if she gets a hold of anyone who can help

 

[Wynette]

edie, I wish you could get more opinions on here...there are so many seasoned folks on BYC, SURELY someone who has experience with this can give better advice than I can!

I'd like to encourage you to start a new thread with a title like "Need help - possible dislocated leg" Maybe that would get you more responses from folks who have dealt with that, because it sure seems like that's what is going on.

 

[edie]

Quote:
Thank you for your help - we have some good news now! My mothers husband said he would pay for the bird to see a vet since he has seen how hard we are trying to help it. Now my problem is finding a vet locally who is willing to see a chicken. I have e-mailed 3 local bird rehabilitators about this and the exotic vet that I take my snakes/gliders to. Is there a directory of vets that have been known to see chickens anywhere? I would like to try to get the bird seen sooner rather than later but I don't know where to look.

 

[edie]

We found a vet that is willing to see the chicken, they cannot see her until Friday morning though. The bird is still eating/drinking/pooping normally so hopefully she can make it until Friday - I have e-mailed a couple people who work with birds so if any of them can see me sooner than we we do that - if not I just hope she can wait another 2 days before being seen.

 

[mypicklebird]

Quote:
That was what I was going to recommend- try the place that you got your glider (sugar glider?) neutered. If they see exotics and are skilled enough with them to neuter a sugar glider successfully, they can see a chicken. If they see pet parrots- they can take an x-ray of the chicken- the anatomy is similar enough- and tell you whether you have an orthopedic issue or something else. Then guide you on whether something can be done. A high femoral fracture, pelvic fracture, or dislocation might look like that. Maybe Marek's (viral disease that often affects the sciatic nerve (s) causing leg paralyis. I would NOT pull on the leg and try to put it back into place. I can see nothing good coming out of that. Metacam is safe for chickens, the dosing is different than mammals. Ask your vet about that as well.

 

[mypicklebird]

Quote:
Thank you for your help - we have some good news now! My mothers husband said he would pay for the bird to see a vet since he has seen how hard we are trying to help it. Now my problem is finding a vet locally who is willing to see a chicken. I have e-mailed 3 local bird rehabilitators about this and the exotic vet that I take my snakes/gliders to. Is there a directory of vets that have been known to see chickens anywhere? I would like to try to get the bird seen sooner rather than later but I don't know where to look.

Pick up the phone and call, speak to the receptionist at the exotics place- they will have a list of who to refer to if they can't squeeze you in. Somewhere you have been a good client at, is much more likely to make room for you, than somewhere you have never been- they want you to keep coming back with your snakes and gliders.... bring up that point as well. Squeaky wheel often gets the appointment.

 

[edie]

Quote:
Thank you for the replies. When I lived at my old house we found injured sparrows and grackles all the time, I would always call around and if vet offices were usually really good with getting me the number of someone who could take an injured bird. My exotics vet was actually closed today so I sent them an email and at the end I added that I have taken several animals in to see them. I also e-mailed 3 local bird rehabilitatiors.

And yes, by gliders I meant sugar gliders. I know not to do any sort of physical treatment on an animal that I do not have experience with, so I left the leg alone and have just been feeding and watering her. As for the Metacam I found a 2 sites online that said that you can use Metacam for birds, and one site was a chicken one that listed the dosage. My sugar glider was to be given half of 0.1mL and on the site it said that chickens were given 0.1mL so to keep it safe I gave her less that what I found online, she got about one drop of Metacam - I'm not sure if it is doing anything for her but I thought trying to help with any pain would be a good idea since I couldn't help with the actual leg.

If the chicken pulls though this I think we will set up a coop for her, my mom has always wanted a coop with her own chickens, she is already very attached to this one.