Update- rooster being put down monday, unable to walk & green poo

[ReiMiraa]

Help!!!
My Jersey Giant Rooster has a dislocated leg and is not walking. Won't put weight on it
I couldn't figure out why for the past few days but now i realized his leg is dislocated. (noticed that while sitting leg was sticking out at a weird angle to the side, a bit)
I felt the joints and could feel a lump on the one that was messed up. Couldn't notice it the other day. I gently pushed on it but it won't go back in. The rooster quietly lets me mess with him.
I feel bad that he can't move cos he is normally the mean bossy one.

I isolated him with food and water. He ate the food hungry like, but no water (so far).
He has gone a few days like this...

How do i fix a dislocated leg?
Could he recover and live with it dislocated?
Ideas?

(rooster stew is not an option)

edit: changed subject to reflect update, see page 3.

New edit: on page 3 as well.

If anyone knows of a disease that can cause wasting and green runny poo or internal organ failure that causes green runny poo please let me know. i do know it is not internal parasites he tested negative for that. monday i will have parents take him to the vet to be put down.

 

[WingingIt]

I've never dealt with this but since you haven't been able to get it back in by feel, it would probably help to have an xray so you can see where the dislocation is exactly and have better info to work with to try and get it back in. Plus, hopefully the vet will help, even if they aren't an aviary vet. At the very least, I'd think they'd xray it for you. Otherwise, you're doing great. Keep him warm with plenty of protein rich food and water with vitamins in it wouldn't hurt. Good luck!

 

[ReiMiraa]

our vet doesn't do chickens, but on monday (if he survives the shock) i will take him in to see if the leg can be pushed (the concept of a dislocated leg is the same for most critters isn't it?) in but i am not going to spend money on an x-ray. i like him, but if i had to choose between $ on x-ray or putting him to sleep i would choose sleep. Honestly was super 'busy' with the hens but i don't want to see him suffer or slowly die on me over a few weeks....

Any other suggestions?

 

[WingingIt]

Gotcha. I just saw your rooster stew not being an option, so figured you were leaning more towards the treat at any cost option. My mistake, sorry. Maybe you can find a really good diagram online to show the joint and can use that to compare to what you feel to see if you can get it back in? I'd think maybe the swelling needs to go down a bit first before it will go back, though.

 

[ReiMiraa]

Thank you. I didn't think about the fact it would swell.
That must be why i didn't notice it a few days ago....

I have him on a mix of medicated chick feed and chick scratch. The smaller size and higher nutrient content with some antibiotics mixed in should help him i would think.

Can chickens be given baby aspirin?
Or any form of pain killer or ibuprofen to help with the swelling?

 

[janinepeters]

I would put this bird out of his misery as soon as possible. A dislocated joint is extremely painful. Putting it back in position is also exquisitely painful and should be done by a vet. The swelling will not go down until the joint is put back in position. It happened a few days ago? Blood supply to the joint may now be compromised (partially cut off), in which case the tissue will start to die. That, too, is extremely painful.

Having been in this condition for several days, he will be at high risk for a recurrence of dislocation even if you successfully manipulate it back into position. This is due to weakening of the muscles and ligaments around the joint. A human would need physical therapy and an anti-inflammatory/anti-pain medication for weeks or months after this.

I am a retired physician, by the way.

 

[ReiMiraa]

-sigh-
after further reading it could either be a. dislocated or b. broken. either ones are almost impossible. option a. might be fixable.
regardless i won't be able to take him to the vet to be fixed or put down till monday as that is the soonest they open.

Thank you for input.
Is it possible to give him an over the counter painkiller or anti-inflamatory to make him a little more comfortable till monday?
If so what kind and what dosage? I would prefer a direct dosage method instead of mixing in its water.

 

[janinepeters]

Unfortunately I never learned to dose a chicken in medical school. Maybe someone else can advise on that. I do know that not all animals can tolerate anti-inflammatories used for people, and do not know if chickens in particular can take them.

As a chicken keeper, you might want to think about finding a way to put chickens down yourself, for the future, as you are bound to have others in need of this at some point. I am dealing with this now, too. It is so expensive to have a vet do it, and having to wait over the weekend prolongs the suffering. Most vets will not handle chickens, and it can be hard to find one nearby, but perhaps not an issue for you if you have an avian vet handy. But on the other hand I cannot imagine using the axe, or breaking its neck myself. I am wondering about a BB gun - see my question about using BB gun to kill chickens in the predator/pests section, if interested.

I am sorry that you and your roo are having to go thru this. Very difficult for both of you, I am sure.

 

[jjthink]

My hen Ellie had a dislocation in her foot, I got her to the vet immediately and she has healed nicely but definitely needed pain killer which was administered immediately and until she was comfortable again.

Yes, you can give aspirin. Typical dose advised here on BYC is one baby aspirin (81 mg) crushed into one cup of his drinking water (this is the rough equivalent of five 325mg aspirins per gallon also mentioned on this site). I have been advised by a well known chicken expert that this is a very low dose. For something like this I am certain he would recommend a higher dose - you are probably safe quartering a baby aspirin and giving 1 or 2 quarters by mouth hidden in a treat he really likes (mushed in might work if the treat is flavorful and masks the aspirin taste). Since he's not drinking this is your best bet. This will hopefully buy him some relief until you can get him to the vet tomorrow. Metacam is given by some avian vets for pain but odds are you won't be able to get that over the counter today so go with the aspirin. I've used aspirin for years for one thing or another with my birds and it's been well tolerated and does help.

JJ

 

[ivan3]

Aspirin would make the roo more comfortable. Our 8lb. roo was treated for several months for a mean Staph infection in foot/leg. Had good luck medicating by using a silicone `bowl' as a mortar and the back of a spoon as a pestle (crush 81mg. chewable Aspirin and dump in the Cephalexin from the cap). Just daubed up powdered med on grape sections and roo wolfed them down. Roo is 8 lb. so the dose worked out to 10mg. per pound (recommended dose for 8lb. is ~18mg tid). Observed increased activity level at the higher dose (once or twice a day).

`Proper dose' is from formulary, here: http://www.avianmedicine.net/ampa.html

Might want to save book for future reference (chap. on trauma/surg. could be of interest).