please help!

my mom found a chicken with a broken leg. She is not finding an avian vet and she wants me to try to help it. I don't know how long she has been injured, we found her about 2 hours ago, I'm in class now so I couldn't do anything for the bird before I left. I have been reading that you can splint yourself, but it has to be done fast. I also read that they can heal on their own sometimes. What should I do? I know her chances are not good but I want to do what I can. Let me know if anyone has dealt with this first hand and what you did, thanks

Try these links. Herp vets are usually "exotic" vets and will have experience with birds as well.

http://www.anapsid.org/vets/arizona.html

http://www.herpvetconnection.com/arizona.shtml

Good luck!

Best of luck. Keep us posted!

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Originally Posted by JLC

Try these links. Herp vets are usually "exotic" vets and will have experience with birds as well.

http://www.anapsid.org/vets/arizona.html

http://www.herpvetconnection.com/arizona.shtml

Good luck!

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thanks, the only thing is my mom will not pay for a vet visit and we do not know who the owners are or if it even has one. I would pay but I don't have a job and I spent everything I had saved up on vet bills for my cats last month so I'm broke now

Ahhh...well, still it never hurts to call and see if they can help...maybe give some advice over the phone about how to treat it or something.

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Originally Posted by JLC

Ahhh...well, still it never hurts to call and see if they can help...maybe give some advice over the phone about how to treat it or something.

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I know my exotics vet would not do much, on their website it says they will do over phone consultations if you pay them, but again, I don't have any money right now.

I have been reading online a lot about this, with people who keep pet chickens.. some of them say to splint yourself if you can't get a vet, but others say just keep the animal confined and let it heal.. so I'm a little confused about which way to go. I know that the leg has been broken now for at least 3 hours, and it could be even longer than that, I'm not sure if it would be safe to splint or not. In any case my mom is picking up some vet wrap and she should be home within the next hour.

I found a chicken forum and posted my question there, I'm not sure how active the forum is but hopefully they can give me some information. I'll post any updates here

A poultry breeder friend of mine takes popsicle sticks and bandages them to the leg, after setting it.

Dont know if that will help or not.

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Originally Posted by Patrick Long

A poultry breeder friend of mine takes popsicle sticks and bandages them to the leg, after setting it.

Dont know if that will help or not.

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Yeah I had read about that. I'm still waiting for my mom to get home with the vet wrap before I decide what to do - I had also read online that Metacam can be used with birds for pain management, I have some left over from a glider neuter so I think I'm going to try to give the chicken some to help her feel more comfortable at least.

The chicken forum I posted on has been less than helpful, there are over 100 users online there and my topic has been pushed down over 20 times in the emergency/health section, I keep posting replies on it just asking about what I should look for when I go check her leg and not one person has said anything.

Here are some pictures, she is laying with the injured leg extended out. My mom will be home soon and I'm going to check the leg then.

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...DSC00004-2.jpg

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...DSC00003-1.jpg

Is it the thigh one broken? If it is, you may not be able to properly splint it. The lower leg bone can be splinted with tape and wood. The thigh generally cannot be splinted so it will be immobile. Without immobilizing the bone pieces, the ends may continue to tear tissue internally.
You might try bandaging the leg up to the body, but if the chicken cannot walk around it may not recover either.
Remember, bird bones are hollow and delicate. The chicken might not have a chance, and if so, you might think about euthanasia.
Good luck.

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Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

Is it the thigh one broken? If it is, you may not be able to properly splint it. The lower leg bone can be splinted with tape and wood. The thigh generally cannot be splinted so it will be immobile. Without immobilizing the bone pieces, the ends may continue to tear tissue internally.
You might try bandaging the leg up to the body, but if the chicken cannot walk around it may not recover either.
Remember, bird bones are hollow and delicate. The chicken might not have a chance, and if so, you might think about euthanasia.
Good luck.

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I was able to give the bird some Metacam when my mom got home, and we gave her oats and scratch grains which she ate. I think the leg is dislocated, I'm not sure what to do about a dislocation like that. The people on the chicken forum are starting to talk to me now, I'm going to see what they have to say about it now that I was able to get a better look at her.
If she is going to die, which probably will happen, it will happen naturally, I'm not letting anyone cull the bird unless they are a vet.

Dislocated, you may be able to re-locate the leg by pulling slowly and twisting it back into place. If it's broken... ehhh... maybe-no.
Dying naturally of infection or wasting away would not be a nice death, so I wish the best for it.

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Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

Dislocated, you may be able to re-locate the leg by pulling slowly and twisting it back into place. If it's broken... ehhh... maybe-no.
Dying naturally of infection or wasting away would not be a nice death, so I wish the best for it.

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If we wouldn't have found it then it would have died alone in the hay barn on its own, now that its with us I'm at least giving it pain medication. I have no experience with killing chickens, therefore, I will not do it. No one else in my family has the experience either, letting it die a natural death in my opinion (with the help of some pain medication) would be far better than someone in this household awkwardly trying to break the poor things neck - if you don't know what you're doing you can cause the animal to suffer a horrible death, even if it is short.

I had read that if there was a break it would effect the circulation of blood getting to the limb, and the limb would most likely be cold. The chickens injured leg is warm and I can't see any visible break so I do think that it probably is a dislocation - when my mom held the chicken the limb hung down. I wouldn't know the first thing about getting a dislocated limb back in place, I feel like I would just cause it more pain and end up doing more damage.

i would call a local wildlife shelter or rescue, im sure they would know what to do in a situation like that...

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Originally Posted by ChicaPiton519

i would call a local wildlife shelter or rescue, im sure they would know what to do in a situation like that...

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Thanks, I think if the chicken is still doing well tomorrow I'm going to try to call some local bird rescues, I don't think they ever really deal with chickens but the same principles apply so maybe someone would take the bird on, or maybe they would know someone who would.

We have some possibly good news. My step-dad felt bad for me and my mom since we are trying to save this chicken so he said he would pay for the bird to see the vet. The only vet would could find that would see a chicken cannot see the bird until Friday morning so we are hoping that the chicken will last that long - at this point the bird is still eating, drinking, and the poop looks normal.

I have e-mailed 3 bird rehabilitators and my exotics vet, so if they can get to me sooner than Friday I will see if any of them can help.

Any updates?

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Originally Posted by scoobyark

Any updates?

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We got the chicken into the exotics vet I normally see last Thursday, they took two x-rays and couldn't find anything so they were not sure what was wrong with the bird. The chicken is still eating and drinking and she is on Metacam, she can only slightly move the left leg and the right leg started to get weird over the weekend and she is having trouble getting around.

Other than mobility problems she seems like a normal chicken, we are just going to keep her clean and keep her fed and see if she progresses or worsens, thats what the vet and everyone on the chicken forum said to do.

I know this is an old thread, but any updates on the chicken? As I was reading, I couldn't help but remember when I had my bearded dragon and he lived with my mom. My mom was supposed to dust his crickets but she didn't and he had a calcium deficiency. Coupled with an impaction, he couldn't move his back legs. I know that chickens are bred to produce large amounts of eggs over a small period of time and you have to provide them with calcium suppliments or feed the eggs back to the hens to keep their calcium levels up. If the vet can find no breaks or dislocations, could it be that the chicken simply doesn't have strong enough bones to support it's weight?