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Western Canada Poultry Swap » Discussions » Advice Needed » Squeaky has a broken leg-->help!

Squeaky has a broken leg-->help!

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1Squeaky has a broken leg-->help! Empty Squeaky has a broken leg-->help! Fri Aug 19, 2011 11:08 am

Giddyup

Giddyup
Active Member
Active Member

....and I feel awful, it's our fault. I had left rat traps up on shelving in the duck coop...these ducks just do not roost. Had meant to take them away with Squeaky living with them. Too late. Trap on the floor, no rat, and a hobbling youngster.

I've separated her into a small wire cage, in the shade within the coop so she can see her buddies.

The leg is straight but there is the tiniest bit of movement (hopefully a clean fracture?) and below is getting quite swollen and coloured.

I'm going to try and splint it and see if she can recover.
-->Do I feed the "Brat" diet now or keep her on the usual? I have grower left, wondering if the higher protein will help?
-->I was thinking popsicle stick things? But what to secure it with? Vetwrap?
-->how long are we looking at for recovery (she's only a few months old)

I'll have to head out to get some things for her before hubby heads to work at 1 today so any feedback would be appreciated!

She was hopping (very) well on one leg but tiring. Wanted to eat...so far so good that way

Thanks guys!

Edited: I'm wondering if splinting will make it worse (if I oops)...was thinking of it just to offer support, seeing as it's nice and straight. Will try to get pics later but don't want to stress her too much.

2Squeaky has a broken leg-->help! Empty Re: Squeaky has a broken leg-->help! Fri Aug 19, 2011 11:22 am

coopslave

coopslave
Golden Member
Golden Member

Ooops!
I would be tempted to not use popsicle sticks and just put a bit of guaze (sp?) and then the vet wrap. Wrap it really well. I think the sticks may have more of a chance of moving or becoming unstable. It may be an idea to encase the whole foot so it doesn't get walked on at all.
We had a dog with a broken front leg and the vet said wrapping the whole foot and the leg stopped the blood from pooling there and swelling the foot.
I bet it will heal just fine once you get it stabilised. I am always amazed at the way youngsters heal.

3Squeaky has a broken leg-->help! Empty Re: Squeaky has a broken leg-->help! Fri Aug 19, 2011 9:30 pm

Blue Hill Farm

Blue Hill Farm
Golden Member
Golden Member

Aww, I'm sorry about Squeaky's leg. The fact her leg is straight is a good sign. Hopefully it was a nice, clean break and heals easily. Do you have a pain killer you could give her to make her more comfy? I’ve used children’s aspirin (80 mg) on injured chickens before with success good. Should help with any swelling too.

Taken from PoultryPedia:

https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry


Give Painkiller

CAUTION: Do NOT give Ibuprofin (Advil, etc.) or Acetaminophen (Tylenol, etc.) to birds! Those are harmful to them.
Buffered aspirin (such as Bayer, etc.) can be used for a chicken to help reduce:
Stress, listlessness, discomfort, pain
Fever
Swelling / inflammation that is not caused by bleeding (Aspirin thins blod and keeps it from clotting as quickly as normal.)
Birds bruise more easily when on aspirin.
You should wait until internal and external injuries have begun to heal before using aspirin.
Note: A standard baby Aspirin is 80 mg, and a standard adult Aspirin pill is 325 mg.
Dose for chickens: Approx. 25 mg per pound of chicken's body weight each day.
Examples: For a 6-lb. Large Fowl Leghorn rooster, 2 times per day give 1/2 of a regular aspirin ( = ~300 mg total per day).
For a Bantam 1.6-lb. Bantam Leghorn rooster, 2 times per day give 1/2 of a baby aspirin (= ~75 mg total per day).
To administer:
To give immediately or in individual administrations: Crush up and split dose up into 2 or 3 administrations per day. Sprinkle the powder on a small tasty treat such as fruit or yogurt and give to the chicken.
To have the chicken self-administer throughout the day: Crush up the total daily dose and dissolve in the approximate amount of water that the chicken drinks each day. Pour into chicken's drinking container.
Never give a chicken any kind of painkiller with 'caine' in the name. These are EXTREMELY toxic to chickens.
Do NOT use a Triple Antibiotic Ointment with Painkiller because almost all include '-caine' ingredients.
Exception: Neosporin with Painkiller products usually only use Pramoxine HCl as the painkiller ingredient, and that is alright for chickens.

4Squeaky has a broken leg-->help! Empty Re: Squeaky has a broken leg-->help! Fri Aug 19, 2011 9:50 pm

karona

karona
Full Time Member
Full Time Member

For our llama that broke her leg we used a
piece of pvc pipe cut in half length wise
fill off the sharp edges.
1) wrap a layer of cotton batting around break
2) place pipe over cotton
3) wrap with electrical tape to hold in place
4) warp with vet wrap
5) seal ends of vet wrap with electrical tape
just to hold it and you can mark the end of
the vet wrap with a piece of electrial tape.
Makes it easier to find the end to change.

We changed the batting etc at 3 weeks and will
do the same at 6 weeks then at 8 weeks we will
see how she is.

good luck with squeaky

5Squeaky has a broken leg-->help! Empty Re: Squeaky has a broken leg-->help! Fri Aug 19, 2011 10:13 pm

Island Girl

Island Girl
Full Time Member
Full Time Member

When one of my layers broke her leg, I brought her into the basement and gave her a heat lamp too. Not sure why but I felt better Rolling Eyes I wrapped her leg with vet wrap just enough to stabilize it and then mostly just left her alone. It took a good couple of weeks before she started hobbling around in her box and then I put her back outside at the three week mark. Her leg never really healed straight but straight enough for her to manage with it and join the layers. She got her regular feed and hen scratch treat and kitchen goodies. Lots of fresh water and a little extra love went a long ways. Hope she recovers for you, they are amazingly fast healers.

XOX Monika

6Squeaky has a broken leg-->help! Empty Re: Squeaky has a broken leg-->help! Tue Sep 06, 2011 10:36 pm

Giddyup

Giddyup
Active Member
Active Member

Thought I'd post an update.
Kept her in a cage in the coophouse for a week. Kept the big door open so she could see her buddies. I chose not to wrap it because I worried I might cause a twist by accident. It did get quite swollen and a bit coloured, and her toes but it was pretty short lived.
After a week I let her out with the flock while I cleaned her cage (less than 5 min) in the a.m.'s... boy was she happy about that! In fact, her leg was starting to look a bit "bent" and I thought more movement would be better. Started letting her out for half days and after 2 wks she was out full days. Swelling gone, no limping even. Just a bump where the fracture must have been.
Today I watched her flap up and "bop" one of the spotted drakes with both feet. So...I'd say she's better. Sassy Squeaky.

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