Sprained foot?

[BreezeCrestChickens]

Hey everyone, where me and my horse used to live we had 4-5 guinea fowl but never had any problems with them because we got them when they were around a year old...never had any youngins'...until now. I got 2 that were about 2 months old and another one I was given one by a lady that was from the same flock...but she had it because it had something wrong with its foot (injury). We thought at the time it was a sprain. I spent the time with it picking him up and letting him drink (he couldn't walk or put weight on it). Its been about 2 weeks now and he's up and walking around in the cage we have the 3 in right now until they're used to our property...and Booboo(the injured one) is able to walk on his own. He gets up and sorta uses his foot...but not like a normal bird. Its all curled up still, he just kinda uses it as a stump. Is that going to be ok? Is there something else I could do to help him? There's no cuts and no swelling...he still drinks and eats. I'm just scared that in another week when I let them out, he would be vulnerable to anything else. I have 10 chickens they'll free range with...just want to make sure he will be ok. Any suggestions?

 

[PeepsCA]

If you can open the foot and uncurl the toes and then make a small cardboard and tape shoe to brace it open and flat to for a week or so... you maybe able to help straighten the foot problem out. You may need to replace the brace often. Massaging the foot/toes some before you add the brace/shoe and each time you change the brace/shoe may help also. Sounds like he should have had a brace on it from day one...

He may need more than a week or so of bracing it, or it maybe too late to help him at all.

Guineas can usually get around on one leg pretty well (or on one and a 1/2 legs in this guys case), but if it's still curled when you turn them loose and he's using it a lot he will probably develop sores on it/abrade the skin off of it... creating further problems and possibly even an infection, and then the others may peck/cannibalize the sores. Also... if he's not moving around as well as and as fast as the others he will most likely be the first one that the predators pick off

 

[BreezeCrestChickens]

Thank you PeepsCA, thats what I was thinking this morning. This morning was the most mobile I've seen him yet. He's the youngest out of the 3...I'm thinking of putting him in his own little cage for a while though just because its hard to catch him with the other 2 in there...luckily they're protective of him...but MUCH bigger then him too. I'll use some vetwrap I have for our horses instead of tape though just so I dont damage the skin...and vetwrap has a little more support(only slightly using it for my own sprain right now hehe). I hope he pulls through, Booboo is pretty sweet

I'll try uncurling the foot tonight when I do chores...I'll try to take a picture and give you an update on if I can uncurl it some.

 

[Fenika]

You might find medical tape works better than vet wrap. If the foot can open and go flat without too much pressure applied by you, then get that 'shoe' on. The vet wrap has a bit too much give (unless you pull it too tight) and might allow the feet to curl a little too much in the shoe. Try it and see, but get some medical tape handy too.

 

[BreezeCrestChickens]

We had him inside last night and the vet wrap that I use doesn't seem to have an much give as the others because we made a little boot out of it and then used industrial tape of some sort that my boyfriend had laying around to seal the top piece. Helps when his mom is a paramedic! We made a 3 layered 'sole' for the bottom, he uncurled his toes with no problems. It almost seemed like Gimps didn't want to go through the annoyance of using his whole foot...lol! He held the foot open long enough to take little pieces of vet wrap and wrap them around it and seal them to the bottom part of the sole. Tied it off with a little tape and left him in the cat carrier in the bathroom over night with some water and scratch...he ate some and drank all the water in the dish

Good signs! This morning he was up and walking around the bathroom, using his 'boot' as a paddle right now but its helping him to walk better! My boyfriend was letting him spread his wings and flap around while holding onto him. They seemed to be best buds

The chihuaha really liked him too! Once I figure out how to get pictures on here I'll post the couple of him

 

[BreezeCrestChickens]

 

[allidew2]

Awwww, poor lil' Boo-Boo! He looks SO sweet! Hope his 'boot' does the trick and straightens that foot out!

 

[BreezeCrestChickens]

I hope so too allidew! I have him chillin' out in a cat carrier outside right now where he can see the flock...I had to put him up 'out of the reach of the hens' though...they were trying to eat the bread and grain I put in there for him....grrrrrr.

 

[BreezeCrestChickens]

Oh yes! He let him stretch his wings here at the kitchen table last night when we did this......lol the end result was a piece of poop on Nanna's Sears catalogue LOL!

 

[PeepsCA]

Here's a pic of a black electrical tape shoe I used on one of my late hatching keets that had a really hard time hatching, when he finally pecked his way out of the shell he had 2 severely curled under toes (and he was walking on the side of his foot, joint bent inward). Over the years I have used this type of "shoe" on several keets with toe and foot issues, with excellent results each time. This little guy was given the nickname "Flipper" for obvious reasons, lol...

As you can see the foot is completely flat when he stands on it, he can bend at the joint where the toes meet the leg, the toes are straight and spread out into the natural position just as they are on a normal keet's foot with weight on it... the toes are stuck down to the tape, plus the rigidity of the tape does not allow for any twisting or curling of the toes because they are securely braced. This keet's crooked toe and bent joint problem healed fine within a few days and the tape loosened it's grip from the sticky collecting food particles while he was running around in the brooder full of other keets, and came off easily.

If you are unclear on what I mean by the natural position of a keet's foot, look at your last pic at the foot your keet is standing on... see how the foot is flat on the table and the toes are spread wide? That's the natural position for a Guinea foot when it's bearing weight. This was more what I was suggesting that you aim for with fitting your keet with a "shoe", but using something more rigid like cardboard or plastic for the base (instead of just tape), with the toes being spread out and taped down to it and the tape being pressed down between each toe holding them in place and completely straight so he has no choice but to walk on it in the natural poistion.

That is the position you should aim for when bracing the foot; keeping the toes straight and supported but allowing him to bend at the joint and use the foot in a normal way. I'm not at all trying to be critical of your handywork, just helpful, so I hope that is how you take this... but to me your shoe looks like it will function more like a big bulky bandaid that is only going to hold the foot in an incorrect position, possibly causing extra stress on the other leg and joints, and I don't think it's going to do much good as far as helping that keet walk normal

Also, just so you know the other keets may be attracted to the red tape and start picking at it (red resembles blood, they are always attracted to blood and will usually start picking/pecking at blood or what they think is blood - aka cannibalism).

A couple other things I need to mention (and again, I'm not trying to be critical, just helpful)... you said you are feeding your keet scratch and grains? Keets this age should be eating high protein starter feed... like a game bird, pheasant or turkey starter crumble with around 26-28% protein. If he hasn't been raised on high protein feed that may have contributed to the curled foot not improving on it's own, and also to his small size.

And I hate to put it this way, but that little guy, as young and small as he is (even if he's walking fine in a week) won't make it outside free ranging, he's way too young and small. I've bred and raised a lot of Guineas, and IMO he really should not be let out to free range until he's much bigger and older, like around 12 weeks old, but at the very soonest 8 weeks old... JMO, I'd hate for you to loose him after putting so much care into him.

Good luck with him, hope his foot improves and he can walk normal and free range with the rest of the flock eventually