Young hen with injured leg - need advice please

[shannybell]

My husband and daughter brought home some new chickens yesterday afternoon and when we took one of them out and sat it down, it just sat there and looked at us, panting. My son picked her up and inspected her a little closer and she finally did get up and try to hop on one foot to get away from another hen who was trying to "meet" her. My husband said that they were all fine when they were loaded up to come home, so we are thinking that maybe she got injured when she was netted right before going into the cage as there were LOTS of chickens in the group and that could have happened and he just didn't notice it??

We put her in a stall in the barn last night with a younger sweet bird of the same breed that also came from that farm yesterday to keep her company. I didn't want to traumatize her any worse last night so we didn't really inspect her too closely. So we are going out to look and see if we can tell more about the problem this morning. For the most part, she just sits and also keeps her wing slightly out on the side with the injured leg to sort of help her balance I suppose. Her eyes are bright and she is very alert.

I guess what I would like to know is what I can do for her to help her heal quickly from this --- IF she is going to heal... Is it possible to heal from a broken leg? Or could it just be a sprain that would cause her to not put it down at all?

Any advice I can get would be much appreciated. My kids will be very attached to her quickly as she will just sit in your lap for petting a lot more than the others right now......

~Shannon

 

[shannybell]

I went out and inspected her injuries and took a couple of photos in hopes that someone might have some idea as to the cause or help with a cure! Her little foot and leg are swollen today. No other signs of injury like a cut or anything. She let me carefully pull her let out to inspect it without it seeming to cause her any pain, but being new to chickens, I don't know chicken behavior well enough to know if I could have been hurting her or not. I held feed and water up to her and she ate and drank some. She even stood up and hopped back over to the water for more after I left the stall.

 

[jreynolds]

I'm really not sure, but hopefully this will bump you up so someone with more knowledge can give you an answer! So sorry for her, she sounds like a sweet bird.

 

[Nike]

I'm having the same problem! Mine started yesterday

 

[Sylvestor12]

If it's swelling, it might be hot. If it is, get a damp, cold cloth and put it on the area to cool it down and bring down the swelling. Just in case, give her antibiotics if the leg is infected, causing some swelling.

 

[shannybell]

I feel so dumb...what kind of antibiotics? And is it given orally or an injection? If it were a horse, dog, cat or goat, I would know this, but I'm soooo new to chickens. Need to go research this!

Her leg is about the same tonight. Still swollen about this same amount. She is eating and drinking good and still has bright eyes...just won't put her foot down to walk. I'm going to try another cold wrap when I go out to feed.

 

[Sylvestor12]

I don't know many details, I just know that penicilin is an antibiotic. If you google it though you'll get plenty of info. If the leg doesn't get better after a while, try making a splint. I'm not 100% sure how to make it but I know that you need to put the leg in the correct position so when you put the splint on it heals correctly. Also, I'd look at her foot and try to find a black scab looking thing on her foot. If there is, it is most likely bumblefoot. For that you can goto the BYC learning center, click on maintaining a healthy flock, click injuries and diseases, and goto bumblefoot surgery. Make ABSOLUTE sure that it's bumblefoot before you think of doing the surgery.

 

[shannybell]

I will have to look up a picture of bumble foot. I don't see anything on her foot that looks like a black scab, but then again I'm not really sure what I'm looking for.

In the meantime, can someone help me with what kind of antibiotics to give her? Her foot is still swollen today. is it something I get at the feed store?

 

[Sylvestor12]

penicilin. you can get it at TSC. I'm not 100% sure what the dosages are though.

 

[Nickichicki]

I sure hope this little bird feels better soon, I hate it when my little girls are not feeling well so I know you must be upset like I would be. Goodluck and please keep us posted, I will be hoping and waiting to hear if she recovers from this injury! ~