- May 9, 2014
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I know he is not a chicken, but this is an emergency, and chickens and turkeys have very similar leg anatomy.
This is Wybie, he is a three year old male, and weighs 45 pounds. He is part of our family, and since he hurt his leg last night I can't stop worrying. There is a video below.
It started last night when the chickens and turkeys were heading back to the coop for the night. Wybie did his usual routine where he tries to stand off with me, he only does this to men, Wendy our female does it to women. He normally doesn't attack, but he makes aggressive chirps, if he gets too close he will sometimes peck or hit you with his wing. I normally just shove him back with my foot, no impacts, just place my foot on him and give a light shove to put some distance between us. He seems like he may be enjoying it a little, so I have tried not to reinforce this behavior too much. Last night I think he was standing awkwardly or in the middle of a step, and he tripped sideways (this was a particularly light shove), he immediately had trouble standing and walking on it since. He was breathing heavily, was in obvious pain, so I have him aspirin last night, that allowed him to breath normally and get some rest. I checked on him throughout the night many times. This morning my fiancee let him out, according to her, at first he walked awkwardly, but did okay, it didn't take long though before he was limping badly again. Today not long ago I have him 700mg of aspirin, which supposedly isn't enough for his weight (25mg per pound), but I am worried about overdosing him giving him more aspirin than even I take weighting 175 pounds.
He still has a healthy appetite, and eats and drinks fine. I cannot tell the difference between the healthy leg and the injured one. I have felt from top to bottom, hip, pelvis, femur, hock, foot, everything. There is no heat, and no breaks, I cannot find swelling or bruising either. Every step he appears to be having trouble stepping forward, like his leg want to go backwards. But he seems to stand with no problems. I could really use someone advice who is more experienced with leg injuries in poultry. I put a hock splint on, he seems like he might be walking a little better with it, but it could also be the aspirin kicking in. I am very worried, and quite frankly feel awful. He is already at a disadvantage being so overweight (believe it or not we have been trying to make him lose weight). I don't want him to have a life long debilitating injury. Video is below.
This is Wybie, he is a three year old male, and weighs 45 pounds. He is part of our family, and since he hurt his leg last night I can't stop worrying. There is a video below.
It started last night when the chickens and turkeys were heading back to the coop for the night. Wybie did his usual routine where he tries to stand off with me, he only does this to men, Wendy our female does it to women. He normally doesn't attack, but he makes aggressive chirps, if he gets too close he will sometimes peck or hit you with his wing. I normally just shove him back with my foot, no impacts, just place my foot on him and give a light shove to put some distance between us. He seems like he may be enjoying it a little, so I have tried not to reinforce this behavior too much. Last night I think he was standing awkwardly or in the middle of a step, and he tripped sideways (this was a particularly light shove), he immediately had trouble standing and walking on it since. He was breathing heavily, was in obvious pain, so I have him aspirin last night, that allowed him to breath normally and get some rest. I checked on him throughout the night many times. This morning my fiancee let him out, according to her, at first he walked awkwardly, but did okay, it didn't take long though before he was limping badly again. Today not long ago I have him 700mg of aspirin, which supposedly isn't enough for his weight (25mg per pound), but I am worried about overdosing him giving him more aspirin than even I take weighting 175 pounds.
He still has a healthy appetite, and eats and drinks fine. I cannot tell the difference between the healthy leg and the injured one. I have felt from top to bottom, hip, pelvis, femur, hock, foot, everything. There is no heat, and no breaks, I cannot find swelling or bruising either. Every step he appears to be having trouble stepping forward, like his leg want to go backwards. But he seems to stand with no problems. I could really use someone advice who is more experienced with leg injuries in poultry. I put a hock splint on, he seems like he might be walking a little better with it, but it could also be the aspirin kicking in. I am very worried, and quite frankly feel awful. He is already at a disadvantage being so overweight (believe it or not we have been trying to make him lose weight). I don't want him to have a life long debilitating injury. Video is below.
