Something is wrong with my hens ankle

[Sam Ragan]

I noticed it Sunday and have had her in isolation. This is my first time with chickens, and my first time with an injury. She gets around, but she doesn't want to. She tries to lower it to the ground but overall keeps it tucked up to her, shielding it with her wing. It's a little crooked and swollen. Can somebody please help me identify the problem?

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[chooks4life]

That is a broken leg. But it's holding shape so should heal to be fairly strong, if you let her rest up for a few days or a week or so.

She should be within sight of the rest of the flock so they don't forget her and to assist her to rest sufficiently you'd need to give her food and water within easy reach.

Chooks are quite good at surviving some massive bone breaks, even dozens in one go, if they're just given an opportunity to rest. Not allowing them to rest somewhere safe, with food and water, and forcing them to soldier on, on the other hand, causes most fatalities from simple or compound leg breaks.

Best wishes.

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. Most breaks aren't quite that easy to spot. When do you think it happened? Broken bones can heal in birds and chickens in a couple of weeks as long as they are caged to limit activity. As chooks4life said keeping them within sight of the flock will make it easier to remain part of the flock. Splinting can be done for extra support with heavy tape or vet wrap, finger splints, popsicle sticks, but be sure to pad it well. It would have been nice to have straightened the bones before splinting, but if it happened awhile ago, it is probably too late. Here's a link for splinting: http://www.lbah.com/word/fractured-bird-leg/

 

[Sam Ragan]

Thank you so much! It either happened Saturday night or Sunday morning. We are gonna wrap it up. Still not sure how it happened, most likely got too brazen and jumped off of something and landed wrong. Again, thank you.

 

[chooks4life]

In that case I'd splint it if I were you, it may still heal straight. There is a risk it will re-break and fail to heal at all, or heal in a worse condition though.

It's a sideways break, that wouldn't happen from jumping off something. Perhaps she had a door accidentally shut on her, i.e. the coop door, or was knocked to the ground by another chook and her leg landed on with enough force to snap it.

Best wishes.