Saturday, November 12, 2011

Poor Danni with a Broken Leg - Again!

Our first chickens were born on October 13, 2009.  Happy birthday to them - they recently turned 2 years old!  Since then we've hatched some eggs and watched them grow up and we've gotten 2 new adult birds to mix it up a bit.  Also we gave away quite a few roosters.  In the past 2 years we've had many chicken injuries, accidents, and illnesses, and quite a few birds didn't survive.  All who passed were buried.  I love my chickens and name all the hens, as you know if you've been around Razzberry Corner.

This sad post is about a strong hen named Danni.  Danni has had the toughest life of all other chickens here.  Things haven't been easy for sweet Danni hen.

Danni in Jan 2010

Back on January 15, 2010, Danni broke her big toe on her left leg on the feeder out in the chicken pen. Since Danni was only 3 months old, we had not yet named her because we were not sure if she was a pullet or a cockerel. Danni from Critter Farm provided awesome, timely, perfect guidance during this time, and in appreciation of her help I named the bird Danni after her.










Now, looking back, at the same time that Danni broke her toe, I believe she broke her neck. Her neck now has a kink in it. Back then I didn't realize her neck was broken because I was focusing so much on splinting her toe and getting her walking again. No wonder the bird had so many issues back then.

Danni in front, Chloe behind her, Feb 2010

Danni lived in our living room and bathroom for weeks. She had to be hand fed. I kept music and TV playing for her and gave her a heating pad to sleep on to keep her cozy while she healed. I splinted the toe, and trained her how to walk. I brought in other birds to keep her company when she was lonely. And she healed up just fine, although the toe curled off to the side.  


Danni in Aug 2010 - notice the bent toe
Danni has been doing great since January 2010.  She's lived a good life, has given us hundreds of eggs, and was able to walk and scratch and and get around fine with her curled-in toe and kinked neck.  And now, this week, somehow, poor Danni appears to have broken her other leg.   Her right leg - the good leg.  The leg without the broken toe.  We aren't sure if the leg is broken up close to the body or just out of joint and not broken.  We assume it was caused by one of those 2 large Cuckoo Maran roosters trying to mount her and have his way with her.  We immediately got rid of those 2 big roosters, they were too big for our little bantam hens like Danni.
Poor Danni has been moved into the infirmary coop this week.  In the past 2 years we built a coop especially for injured birds or babies, so they don't have to live in our living room!  Danni has her own heat lamp - just like a personal spa.  There's a door in her coop looking out into the chicken pen, and it has wire across so she can look out and other birds can look in, but no one can come in.  There's nest boxes in this coop - these were used last summer during the birth of the guinea keets and chicks.  However, Danni has no need for nest boxes right now.


Danni now, Nov 2011

Danni is not able to walk - she can't put any weight on her right leg.  She wants to hold the bad leg straight out in front of her.  And for a few days she lost the desire to eat.  She's been force fed and watered from a dropper.  We started her on aspirin water in case she's in pain.  Yesterday she started eating on her own again - she likes green beans.  She's such a sweet bird; she's always been one of my favorite chickens because she's so sweet and has had such a tough life.  I really hope she pulls through this time.  She's been my miracle bird.  Come on, Danni hen, keep your spirits up! 

16 comments:

Chai Chai said...

We had a bird who broke her leg and put a splint on it so she could heal. The paper splint worked very well.

http://operationhomestead.blogspot.com/2010/11/injured-chicken.html

Lilla said...

Poor Danni! Did you splint the leg this time?

I am sure Danni from Critter Farm will have more wise advice for you. I hope sweet Danni hen heals up fast. She is lucky to have such loving, chicken parents!

IsobelleGoLightly said...

Oh my! She is a very beautiful bird. I hope she is able to recover. You are a very good chicken mom. My lady says chickens are heartbreaking when they do this kind of thing. xoxoxo

Razzberry Corner said...

Chai - I remember when that happened to your chicken. But with Danni we can't find any broken part. It looks and feels fine. She just cannot stand on it anymore. That entire side of her body looks "sunken in" - she doesn't hold herself the same anymore. She sticks that leg out in front, straight out. It's weird, it's almost as if she had a stroke and is paralized, but she can move that wing ok. Can that happen to a chicken, a paralisis of some sort? Randy was thinking the leg was out of socket at the hip joint. He felt her leg and hip and attempted to straighten it, but couldn't tell if it was messed up or not. She doesn't cry out in pain and doesn't appear to be sore at all when we touch the leg or toes. At first she couldn't sqeeze the toes, but now she's slightly able to squeeze our fingers with the toes on that leg. But she stopped eating and lost the will to live, which are signs that she was in pain.

Lilla - No, no split. See what I wrote to Chai Chai above. I really hope Danni pulls thru this, earlier this week I wasn't sure since she stopped eating and I had to forcefeed her. Poor bird.

Isobelle - It's sad when any animal has issues. Even chickens have chicken thoughts and they do feel pain. No one deserves to suffer. It breaks me heart!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
UPDATE - Today Danni is doing much better! She ate without forcefeeding, and she attempted to stand at least twice! She can't walk yet, but she wants to, which is the first step towards recovery! Yeah, Danni hen!

~Lynn

Dog Trot Farm said...

What a wonderful mama you are. Oh, sweet Danni melts this chicken mama's heart. I have never heard of asprin water, how does the ratio of water to asprin work? The one bit of advice I would give to anyone new to keeping chickens, just like you, keep a chicken hospital ready and well stocked. Sending well wishes from all of us here at Dog Trot Farm, Julie.

CaliforniaGrammy said...

Come on Danni, we're cheering for you . . . you can do it, yes you can! You are blessed to have such good caregivers. We all want you to pull through.

Cindy Marlow said...

Let us know if there is anything we can do to help. I'm home most the time now (until January) so we can hen sit if necessary during the day. Sounds like she might get better with just your extra TLC, though. Here's to keeping good thoughts about Danni!

Danni said...

Lynn - you are such an amazing chicken mama - you have done an incredible job caring for your Danni-hen.
One question for you - are you sure her leg is really the issue? You mentioned the word "stroke" and this concerns me. I've had a chicken have and succumb to a stroke and her foot couldn't grasp and her leg was stretched out. Though, her wing did also hang down her side a bit, too.

I think you're doing all the right stuff. Keeping her warm and quiet and hydrated seem, to me, to be the most important things right now. And if she eats her favorite things for you, that's icing on the cake.
Thinking good thoughts for you both...
Human Danni

John Going Gently said...

she couldnt have a btter owner!
my beatrice ( who had a stroke) is doing ok too, although she cant really walk....

you've just got to give them a chance eh?

Razzberry Corner said...

Julie - http://msucares.com/poultry/diseases/solutions.html

Dissolve 5 regular strength aspirin in a gallon water. We give it to a hurt bird in a dropper, forcing her to drink it. It amazingly really seems to help with pain. I agree about keeping a "hospital" ready and stocked. You learn that by experience!

CAGrammy - I certainly hope she pulls thru! Her spirits are better, at least, and that's a big plus. Thanks for your cheers for her!

Cindy - Thanks! Right now Randy & I are off work on different days, so we have more time to spend with the chicken. What have you been up to these days???

Human Danni - I'm not sure it is broken. I'm really thinking it may be a pulled tendon. Her wing and head is fine on the right side. Her vision is fine. Mentally she's fine, just lonely. It's just the leg, it doesn't work right. We had these 2 huge and rough cockerels who started throwing the bantam hens around and attenpting to mount them. We got rid of those mean boys. But Danni came up lame at that same time. But I am not a chicken doc, it could have been some sort of stroke, I don't know, but it's a coincidence. Yesterday she attempted to hobble/limp around, which is a huge improvement. Time will tell if she gets better. Poor bird has had it rough!

John - You had a bird with a stroke, too! I'll be coming over to your blog to talk! I'll bring a cake, you put on some tea...

~Lynn

Knatolee said...

Oh poor little Danni. SHe's such a pretty little thing, and what a fighter. I'm sure with your tender loving care, she'll make it through this. Poor girl! You take such excellent care of your chickens.

theblackegg said...

I'd like to share some great information I just found about telling the sex of a un-hatched chick. It's absolutely amazing! Here's the link: http://www.tillysnest.com/2011/11/are-you-boy-or-girl-egg.html

Country Girl said...

Nurse Lynn the Chicken Doctor! Poor Danni! I am sure she will recover with such good nursing she is receiving! You do a good job with the chickens!

Razzberry Corner said...

Nat - I try to keep the birds pain-free and happy, at least. That's all I can do.

Sophie - Yeah, I tried that trick when I hatched out eggs. It wasn't always accurate. But it was fun!

Country Girl - Thank you. I hope Danni recovers fully!

~Lynn

Robin said...

Poor thing. She sure has had a tough go of it. I hope she heals up good. :)

JosephAlsarraf said...

Poor bird... it reminds me of the fight I had with my tabby cat who , had to be kept outside during the winter because it had bladder problems. I would set it on top of a old dryer and point a lamp at it to keep it warm, I always freaked out in the morning because I would find the lamp and blankets on the floor. I hope your bird gets better! : )