Hen with broken leg at the knee joint

[featherhead007]

My hen 3 yr old BR jumped down from her perch and landed wrong, breaking her leg, at the knee joint. her leg is now dead.
Can anyone help me? Can this be splinted?

 

[M-H-Fielding]

My hen broke her leg close to the joint, but not at the joint. You can splint it if you want.
Separate her with food and water for a few months. As long as the hen has the will to live, she will live.
The leg will never mend right, it will always be a bit crooked no matter what you do. Try giving her calcium. I grind up egg shells and mix them in with the food.
Also, keep her away from roos. Mating will cause further damage to the leg.

So sorry that happened!

 

[M-H-Fielding]

If it's broken at the joint, it probably won't heal. You may have to either make her a permanent splint, or put her out of her misery.
You could try separating her permanently, but that will be inconvenient.

 

[Eggcessive]

I am not a vet, but it sounds like she has torn a tendon or ligament, or possibly severed or damaged a nerve. . Can you see a vet? Here is a good link for splinting injuries:
https://theiwrc.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Duerr_Splinting_Manual_2010.pdf

 

[M-H-Fielding]

I am not a vet, but it sounds like she has torn a tendon or ligament, or possibly severed or damaged a nerve. . Can you see a vet? Here is a good link for splinting injuries:
https://theiwrc.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Duerr_Splinting_Manual_2010.pdf

Cool link! Good info!

 

[casportpony]

It's been my experience that they rarely break at the joint. Check to see if the fracture is above the joint and post some pictures, please.

 

[featherhead007]

It's been my experience that they rarely break at the joint. Check to see if the fracture is above the joint and post some pictures, please.

I'm not able to post pictures with my cam phone! It felt like the lower leg was separated at the joint.

 

[featherhead007]

I'm not able to post pictures with my cam phone! It felt like the lower leg was separated at the joint.

I aligned the knee, and splinted the area for immobility. She's a brave hen!

 

[HappyDuckie]

If her leg is dead like you said in the post, I don't think splinting will do anything. IF the leg is dead, then amputating would be the best bet, since it would just shrivel and stay there anyways. But I don't think a chicken can get around with one leg. I had a duck with dead tissue on the wing.. the vet said to pack a whole bunch of sugar on it, which we did, and it completely healed in two days. I don't know how you could get sugar on her leg and make it stay, or if it would do anything in this case, but its worth a try, IMO. Best wishes for you and your chicken.

 

[casportpony]

Be careful, most of the time people put a splint on it does more harm than good.