Birds are very sensitive and complex animals. Its legs are fragile and in the event of a blow or a bad fall they can break quite easily.
In this article on our site we want to share the first aid for a broken bird, and it is often difficult to find to an emergency vet who can treat us.
If you are a bird breeder or owner, it is very important that you know how to deal with the various problems that can happen to avoid further damage. Read on to learn how to splint a bird's leg.
Fracture Types
There are different causes that can cause a bird's leg to break. The most common are usually due to a blow or a bad fall, although sometimes a small chick can present a deformity due to the little space it could have inside the nest.
The ideal would be Go to a veterinarian as soon as possible who could recognize it and identify what type of fracture it is, and what remedy should be apply it, and sometimes not going to the specialist can mean the loss of a leg.
If your bird has suffered a fracture but you cannot go to the specialist right now, you must first identify what kind of problem it is:
- Genetic disease, that is, the bird was born with this deformity
- Traumatism suffered by the bird (blow, fall, etc.)
- Infectious disease (smallpox or Marek's disease, Salmonellosis, Gout…)
- Presence of fungus on the leg
- Poisoning
Fractures of the tibia and fibula are the most common and easiest to repair (middle part of the leg), while that of the femur is very complicated, especially since it is such a small living being.
Before splinting a bird's leg
Before starting the process it is very important that you quarantine your bird, especially if it could be a disease or some type of fungus. If you think this may be the problem, get some latex gloves to prevent disease transmission.
If he cannot move, place him in a nest or element where he feels comfortable and sheltered, offer him water and food if necessary until he is more recovered.
Take your bird and Wash its legs with clean water and disinfectant, you will prevent it from self-mutilating. Before emergency splinting you must identify what type of fracture it is:
- Pata malpositionado: If the paw is he althy and does not show any swelling or breakage, it may be due to a bad position inside the nest or growth problems.
- Open Fracture: In this case you will see how the bone comes out. Open fractures are very serious as they require surgery and rapid suture, at least within 8 hours of the blow. If this is not done, the leg may begin to gangrene and the problem may be irreparable.
- Closed fracture: In this case we do not observe that the bone crosses the skin of the leg, but we can perceive it as broken. We will need to be very careful to treat it properly.
How to splint a bird's leg
- Ask someone to help you hold your bird while you do the whole process, it is normal for him to be nervous and restless. Remember that you must be very delicate and careful.
- Apply betadine to try to remedy a possible infection.
- Get what will be the bird's splint. You can use a soda straw for example (splitting it in half), a cardboard, a stick etc.
- Carefully try to align the bird's bones so that they return to their original position. It is a very complicated task and you can seriously worsen the problem if you are rough or place it incorrectly. If you do not see yourself qualified, do not carry out this step and go to the specialist as soon as possible.
- Once you consider that it is in the correct position, adjust the splint (it must always be the exact size of the leg, it cannot protrude) and wrap it in a "pain-free" bandage available at any pharmacy, this type of bandage only hooks itself and not on the skin of the animal in this case. It is important that you do not cut off your bird's circulation by over-tightening it, but do not allow the splint to become loose either.
- Once the process is finished, remove the sticks from the cage and create a comfortable place where the broken leg will not move.
- Go to the vet as soon as possible to have him checked out and given the pertinent treatment. He will advise you to administer antibiotics and specific painkillers for a week.
How to adjust a poorly positioned leg
Poorly positioned paws should try to be remedied as soon as possible To avoid major problems, it is essential that you see your vet as soon as possible. you can.
The treatments for these cases are usually very original because (generally) it is not a question of broken legs but rather of a bad position that ends in a deformity of the natural state of the position of the legs. It can also be caused by poor nutrition, a twisted leg, or severe trauma.
We leave you these fantastic explanatory images from: misamigaslaspalomas.com who have done a spectacular job with this pigeon, from our site we want to congratulate them!
