Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[shotzy007]

just love Swedish Flowers, and this one is so dang pretty..

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

Thank you, OldChurch!

Ki4got - it appears the leg is broken - lower part of the leg between the hock and ankle. I bandaged it with VetWrap, cut an old , fat magic marker and put the plastic housing around the bone as a brace, and then wrapped over the top to try to stabilize it. I know you have dealt with a broken leg before. Anything else I should do in your opinion? Anything to watch out for? How often do you think I should change the bandage?

(You know - if it were a bird that belonged to someone else, I would be offering up advice, but when it's my own baby, I have to get other opinions to make sure I'm thinking clearly.)

I've dealt with a broken leg before. The only thing I'd recommend is keeping an eye out for swelling over the next few days. It may swell to the point that the bandage/splint becomes too tight. I gave my hen aspirin (children's, just cut off what I thought a chicken would weigh compared to the child dosage) every few hours to help keep the swelling and inflammation down.

 

[ki4got]

ok, this is not specific to SFHs but thought I would ask if any of you has had this happen. It's a shipped Coronation Sussex egg. Eggs were shipped on their sides which I find usually results in more bad air cells. I let them rest for 24 hrs when I first recv'd with lg end up then put them lg end up in auto turner but didn't turn for 2 more days. They are 6 days a long now. Just candled and realized one embryo was completely at the top of the egg with no air cell above or even on the sides. I found the air cell perfectly attached to the small end with no hope of it moving. All I could think to do was flip the egg and incubate with the small end up. Any one else dealt with this? thanks

yes, I've had several cochin eggs like this from pullets this year so far... the one that developed, when it pipped I laid it on the side rather than leaving it in the egg crate. he hatched just fine. one of 2 mille fleur cochin babies hatched the 18th

 

[Bulldogma]

I had a barred rock pullet that had her foot fall through the boards on our porch. She panicked and snapped her bone. Found her still stuck in porch with a badly broken leg. You could totally fold the leg over at the break. I used one of those finger splints. left it on about 8 wks and she was totally healed. I wrapped her leg first in a telfa pad to prevent the bandaging from sticking then a layer of cotton wrap before the gauze. I didn't want to change it if I didn't have to cause it would possibly cause injury to the barely healed bone. I think I changed it about every 2 wks. You do have to watch where the bottom and top of the brace would come in contact with her leg and any place where rubbing or pressure might develop. Eventually I added more padding under those ends and any other place needed. Make sure the wrapping is firmly around enough to keep in stabilized but not so tight as to interfere with circulation. Check her foot often to make sure it's warm, not cold, or at least not colder than her other foot. Coldness could indicate impairment of circulation.

Great idea on the finger splint. Thank you for sharing your experience.

I've dealt with a broken leg before. The only thing I'd recommend is keeping an eye out for swelling over the next few days. It may swell to the point that the bandage/splint becomes too tight. I gave my hen aspirin (children's, just cut off what I thought a chicken would weigh compared to the child dosage) every few hours to help keep the swelling and inflammation down.

More great insight! Thank you!

I so appreciate what you have to say, TX & KKH! I feel a lot better now, hearing some good success stories. I'm going to see how the current splint holds up - but do y'all think I need to isolate the hock joint to prevent the soft tissue from moving as much, or am I OK with just splinting the broken bone itself like what I have right now?

 

[ki4got]

Quote: tx is right... a homozygous crested bird will likely have a larger than normal crest, possibly vaulted skull, etc. breeding to an uncrested bird will result in 100% crested offspring but not all the problems inherent in the homozygous gene...

Thank you, OldChurch!

Ki4got - it appears the leg is broken - lower part of the leg between the hock and ankle. I bandaged it with VetWrap, cut an old , fat magic marker and put the plastic housing around the bone as a brace, and then wrapped over the top to try to stabilize it. I know you have dealt with a broken leg before. Anything else I should do in your opinion? Anything to watch out for? How often do you think I should change the bandage?

(You know - if it were a bird that belonged to someone else, I would be offering up advice, but when it's my own baby, I have to get other opinions to make sure I'm thinking clearly.)

IMO, if the skin is not broken, do NOT wrap it... the leg will swell (which helps immobilize the bone!) and common sense will tell her when she can start using it again. pain has a habit of limiting things that aren't good for you, for a reason! don't try to give any pain killer, because she may injure it further, if she thinks it doesn't hurt. (edited to add, USING a broken appendage, even in limited amounts, speeds the healing of the bone itself! she will know how much is too much...)

if it's so badly broken that it's flopping around, then you might brace it by wrapping above and below the break, on both sides of the leg. then if it swells, the brace won't be restricting that any. but if it's flopping that badly, it may not heal properly at all. we had to cull 'underfoot' because his leg was shattered so severely, it was unlikely to ever heal useful again. (yes, a favorite...)

when Broke Leg EE (earned her name... TWICE! in 2 months!) did what she seems to do best (besides lay pretty blue eggs), I did the first method with her. the first time was a spiral fracture I think, as her foot now turns in about 45 degrees from normal, the second time wasn't as bad as the first, just a clean fracture... she went in the brooder (aka hospital cage) with a short roost, if she chose to use it, about 4" off the bottom. (handy for keeping cleaner butts). food and water on one end of the brooder and the roost towards the other end, but far enough that she could perch either direction comfortably... you know my brooders Leigh. just under 48" long, so about 12-14" from one end for the roost. if you need suggestions how to make an easy one for a brooder, let me know.

the first few days, broke leg just sat there within reach of food and water (never stopped laying once the whole time!) and eagerly accepted any/all treats offered her. gradually I noticed her moving around a bit more, and one day she started laying on the other side of the roost and sleeping perched with her foot tucked up. when she 'laid down' on the roost she just propped her foot like she was roosting. it took nearly a month for it to be healed enough that I felt she could go back outside but I left her penned for a couple weeks to limit her activity, then no sooner did I turn her back loose, she got stepped on by the horse AGAIN! (rinse, repeat on side 2)

so she's got thick ugly legs, but still lays like a champ (when she's not hiding those eggs!) no beauty contestant but still healthy and happy. I think the second time taught her, she won't go near the horses now LOL.

 

[Bulldogma]

OK - so it's not flopping around or anything, and no broken skin... but I can just detect the movement when I examine her. So you think I should unwrap it?

 

[TurnipTruck]

My two SFH cockrells were killed by the neighbors dog today. It makes me want to cry and scream at the same time... they were such pretty boys and I hadn't even introduced my SFH pulllet to them yet.

That dang dog killed my boys and took them home to feed to her puppies!

I need to find myself a new non-crested Roo... but first, I build a nice large run so that the birds are only out when I am home to keep an eye on them.

 

[shotzy007]

I am so sorry for your loss..

 

[Bulldogma]

My two SFH cockrells were killed by the neighbors dog today. It makes me want to cry and scream at the same time... they were such pretty boys and I hadn't even introduced my SFH pulllet to them yet.

That dang dog killed my boys and took them home to feed to her puppies!

I need to find myself a new non-crested Roo... but first, I build a nice large run so that the birds are only out when I am home to keep an eye on them.

I'm so sorry for your loss! I have 2 uncrested sons of Mace up for grabs. Both will be black-based Mille Fleur and will likely take after their dad. I believe they are both out of Alma. If you know of anyone driving up 81, I can meet them and send you one or both of these boys if you are interested.

 

[wildhorseannie]

ok, this is not specific to SFHs but thought I would ask if any of you has had this happen. It's a shipped Coronation Sussex egg. Eggs were shipped on their sides which I find usually results in more bad air cells. I let them rest for 24 hrs when I first recv'd with lg end up then put them lg end up in auto turner but didn't turn for 2 more days. They are 6 days a long now. Just candled and realized one embryo was completely at the top of the egg with no air cell above or even on the sides. I found the air cell perfectly attached to the small end with no hope of it moving. All I could think to do was flip the egg and incubate with the small end up. Any one else dealt with this? thanks

I once accidentally incubated an egg upside down. It was a dark shell and almost a perfect oval, I couldn't tell which end was which.
I discovered it when I candled at 2 weeks, so I flipped it. It hatched.


Turnip Truck, I am really sorry for your loss, I wish I had something to offer.