How long to keep a fractured leg splinted ?

Hey all....

Am contiuning to care for the cute fledgling who was the victim of a hawk attack several weeks ago. It took several, several days to actually catch him after I noticed his leg was injured and many of his tailfeathers missing.

You know how that goes...they are hurt but still flighted...so you gotta make a judgment on how aggressive you are going to be in trying to catch 'em.

Anyway, that's another part of the story. 4 trips to the avian vet later, he's been on cipro and medicam as well as neoglucon, with his internal leg injury being a simple fracture and splinted. His skin around the upper leg was basically torn or flayed off...so you could see his muscle and muscle tissue exposed. This has been healing up very well...weekly changes of the dressing at the bird hospital and continued antibiotics, it is looking very good.

WE are at day 17 of the leg being splinted. I am out of money for any further vet visits, so I am taking it from here, alone (still have plenty of meds left). He is getting mighty ornery, he really wants to get back outside. He's a big, strong beautiful beauty of a feral, and he can see his friends outside my bedroom window, where he spends his days in his cage.

I am gonna remove the dressings again in a day or two and check on the skin situation, make sure nothing's looking nasty. He is using the bad leg, putting weight on it occasionally but of course the splint is big and cumbersome. At what point do you think it's safe to remove ? Again, it was a simple fracture above the ...um...'knee' (?)...if that's what you call it.

Thanks as always for any feedback.

Hi Jaye,
I had a little one where his leg was literally swinging like a pendulum.
I put it in a splint and noticed about a week and a half later he was putting some pressure on the foot. At about two weeks he was actually walking on it.

Although he was becoming very annoyed with the splink, I had intended on resplinting as the gauze was beginning to loosen but he was doing so well I left it off and continued to observe him. After a few more days he was ready to fly the coop.

I released him to our backyard flock.

This was my first attempt at treating a broken leg and unfortunately it wasn't exactly straight (right leg). He has a very faint limp. Not even enough for anyone else to notice. He gets along wonderfully. In fact he remained with the backyard flock and is here everyday. Smile

This has been nearly two years ago.

Here are a couple photos. Unfortunately I didn't take any prior to splinting or while the leg was splinted. Disappointed

Little Squeaker, healed broken leg 10/02/07
I had just taken the splint off. He was a little hesitant.

$How long to keep a fractured leg splinted ? 2007-117$

This was exactly a month later

$How long to keep a fractured leg splinted ? 2007-118$

01/12/08
He was actually taking a step in this photo, when
he looked up and saw me taking the picture.
Yep! I was busted! :That\\\'s so f

$How long to keep a fractured leg splinted ? 2008-028$

Hi Cindy...wow, what a beauty !

Yeah, we had another girl here and the hospital set her leg pretty well, but slightly 'off'...it was also just swingin' there like a pendulum when I found her...and she now uses it fine..

....but she's a bit....(ugh)...

Pigeon-Toed nutter

(sorry)

Here HE is, quite the handsome lad, no ?:

$How long to keep a fractured leg splinted ? Chroma11$

...so about 3 weeks for a more substantial injury than what this guy has sustained ? OK, that's good to know...he's probably about ready to get back to his feral life, then....

What a beautiful little splash.
I have nothing of signifigance to add given I have never had to deal with a broken leg. I guess that makes you two the experts in this category.

Jaye wrote:: Hi Cindy...wow, what a beauty !

Yeah, we had another girl here and the hospital set her leg pretty well, but slightly 'off'...
it was also just swingin' there like a pendulum when I found her...and she now uses it fine..

....but she's a bit....(ugh)...

Pigeon-Toed

(sorry)

Here HE is, quite the handsome lad, no ?:

...so about 3 weeks for a more substantial injury than what this guy has sustained ?
OK, that's good to know...he's probably about ready to get back to his feral life, then....

Jaye. He hangs around the yard pretty much all day. Smile

You've got quite a stunning pij as well.
Please let us know how things go with the release.

Speaking of pigeon toed, I could never figure out that phrase. To me pigeons don't walk pigeon toed.
I think the term 'Duck Toed' would have fit the bill. They do walk 'pigeon toed'. :That\\\'s so f

Yes...pigeon-toed doesn't make any sense...nor does "eats like a bird".

...if any humans really ate like a bird, they'd be about 400 pounds....

OK, so with the help of my daughter I removed the cast tonight. The skin healing looks very, very, very good. Nice and clean skin growing back, even a few pin feathers popping thru now. The leg looks OK, he is definitely controlling it more than before, it's not just limp anymore. He can scuttle around a bit and put weight on it...but he clearly stands on the good one. I am sure it is still uncomfortable for him....but my last save (Henny) also took a few days post-cast before she really started using her leg.

So maybe I should be a tad more patient...looks like he'll need to get some strength back in that leg. I gave him a small dose of medacam for the night. Will keep y'all posted.

Matilda...the pic doesn't show it, but his primaries are all white, beneath the secondaries which are the mottled grey and black. And he has a lot of irridescence on his chest. He is indeed stunning. Wink

Jaye wrote:: Yes...pigeon-toed doesn't make any sense...nor does "eats like a bird".

...if any humans really ate like a bird, they'd be about 400 pounds....

OK, so with the help of my daughter I removed the cast tonight. The skin healing looks very, very, very good. Nice and clean skin growing back, even a few pin feathers popping thru now. The leg looks OK, he is definitely controlling it more than before, it's not just limp anymore. He can scuttle around a bit and put weight on it...but he clearly stands on the good one. I am sure it is still uncomfortable for him....but my last save (Henny) also took a few days post-cast before she really started using her leg.

So maybe I should be a tad more patient...looks like he'll need to get some strength back in that leg. I gave him a small dose of medacam for the night. Will keep y'all posted.

Matilda...the pic doesn't show it, but his primaries are all white, beneath the secondaries which are the mottled grey and black. And he has a lot of irridescence on his chest. He is indeed stunning.

I kept my little guy in for about another week. They do need to adjust and feel comfortable walking with a normal gait before they are release.

Will be looking forward to an update. :boing:

» Why are his nails so long?
» Piper in egg binding emergency
» How long does the PMV virus survive?
» FOUND A WHITE PIGEON NEED ADVICE & INFO
» It's Been a Long Time Coming . . . A Message of Hope