hopingforchickens Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 Hello, On Thursday one of my chickens got her leg caught on some rope (she jumped down from her nighttime perch and somehow tangled her leg on the swing rope). I suspect she had been trapped for just under an hour, the rope was wound completely round the base of her leg and she had clearly struggled. When I found her she was standing still with the trapped leg out at right angles behind her. I freed her and stood back to see what the damage was. After a couple of minutes, when she'd sat down, I put her in our cat basket with food and water, inside the WIR and left her to settle down. Later in the day I found she had broken out of the cat basket and was hopping around on one leg, occasionally putting her bad foot down, so I left her to it. That night I put her back in the cat basket. Yesterday I let her out and she hopped about most of the day (she's been eating and drinking). Last night I fed them all tuna mixed with live yogurt to give her a boost, and she gobbled it up. This morning she seems to be putting a bit more weight on her leg and I've just watched her preening herself. So is this the right thing to do? I don't really see what a vet could do, she is bright and alert and eating and drinking. So should I just leave her to it now? Thanks in advance x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harryissy Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 Hello, Sounds as if she may have broken her leg and she really does need to see a vet. We had one who broke a leg, I think she must have got it trapped it something and broken it while struggling to free herself. The vet will be able to splint the leg and it should hopefully mend quite quickly, our chuck took 4 weeks mend. We kept her in a cat box in the kitchen with a bit of time outside while the cat box was cleaned. She began to weight-bare after about 3 weeks and quickly got back to normal after the splint was removed. For the first week she also had painkillers and anti-inflamatories which I fed to her on bits of banana. She continued to lay all the time she was in the cat box. I found that feeding her layers' pellets made into a mash more successful than the pellets alone as she just scattered the pellets all over the cat box and the kitchen floor!! Good Luck!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plum Posted September 22, 2013 Share Posted September 22, 2013 Agree Or could be dislocated. Until you get to the vet you could help her by giving cat strength metacam about 0.1 ml if you have it. It's anti inflammatory and analgesic. I'd check her leg for blood supply it would be a shame to lose it. They hide distress really well. Horrid thing for you to deal with hope it can be put right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopingforchickens Posted September 22, 2013 Author Share Posted September 22, 2013 Thanks everyone, pleased to say Cornflake is doing well. She has been weight bearing and is eating and drinking and is nice and alert. The vet didn't do anything as she seems to be making good recovery all by herself, she has been a very lucky chicken!Will continue to keep my eye on her and treat her with the rest of the live yogurt but fingers crossed she will be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plum Posted September 22, 2013 Share Posted September 22, 2013 Phew that's good news Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harryissy Posted September 22, 2013 Share Posted September 22, 2013 Great news! All should be well now, perhaps she just strained it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
