Anonymous
Guest
Sep 06, 2004
4:58 PM
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I have a youngster about month old. youngster came out of the nest box and broke one the leg. He/She is healthy and paretns feeding him however he can not walk?
Is there any thing I can do to save youngster? Please advise
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Thor
20 posts
Sep 06, 2004
5:55 PM
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Hi,
Are you talking about a Sprayed leg or is it really broken? Sometimes, a lack of a nest mate and a lack of nesting material will cause the single youngster to be sprayed legged. Altho if you are talking about one with a broken leg, they seem to heel right up in 4 to 5 days. Just like humans, the younger they are... the faster they heal.
Are we talking about Sprayed or Broken... there is a huge difference?
Flying them,
Thor
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rollerpigeon
Site Moderator
160 posts
Sep 06, 2004
5:59 PM
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My first thought is to set and splint the leg to keep it immobile. Perhaps use an ice cream stick that is cut to a proper size with some medical tape and wrap it up for a couple weeks? After some reflection on it though, if it where mine, I think I would probably end up culling it. FLY ON! Tony Chavarria
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rollerpigeon1963
22 posts
Sep 06, 2004
7:02 PM
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Anon,
Like Thor said about being spraddle legged. It is where one leg goes out to the right and the other leg goes out to the left like doing the splints. Or maybe its just one leg that is spraddled. I will tell you what I have done in the past and it worked for me. If the bird is still young enough to get a second leg band on the other leg. Put a leg band on each leg and then take a piece of yarn and tie the two leg bands together real close. But making sure your not to close. And after a week or so you will see the squeeker walking in small steps. Well go ahead and cut the yarn. if it helps and still needs a few more days to properly heal tie another piece of yarn back on for a few more days. Now after two weeks and it isn't any better than culling it is your only choice. But if you can see a break in the leg where the bone is showing then culling is your only resort.
Hope this helps Brian Middaugh
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rollerpigeon
Site Moderator
161 posts
Sep 06, 2004
7:24 PM
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Brian, I tried putting second band on one that was straddle and using yarn to pull them together with no success. Seems the leg just sorta went in another direction. Also the yarn has to be watched so it does not cut into the flesh of the leg so it will need to be monitored closely. I had to cull mine. FLY ON! Tony Chavarria
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Thor
22 posts
Sep 06, 2004
8:03 PM
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Hi Tony,
I just fixed a youngster with one spraddle leg not too long ago. I didn't catch it until it was 2 1/2 weeks old and had to reset the legg by bending it back in position until I heard a loud 'POP'. After resetting the legg that was spraddle, I tied a rubber band on each band (one on each leg) to hold both leggs in the correct position. I then scooped up some dirt (using sand will do just as well) and placed it in the nest bowl to help soften the area plus give it some friction to help stablize the leggs (so not to cause it to go spraddle again). It only took 3 days before I saw moments on the resetted leg and another week before I took the rubber bands off.
The leg that was spraddle is 98% normal now and the bird is flying about just fine.
I think the trick is to reset the leg and then tie them close together. I tried reseting the leg in the past and just letting it heal but it eventally just went back to being spraddle.
I don't believe in 'culling' any bird that can be saved... altho if you have more then enough birds... 'culling' such a bird will save you alot of time.
A broken legg is easier to fix in my opinion.
Thor
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rollerpigeon
Site Moderator
164 posts
Sep 06, 2004
8:24 PM
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Thor, now just what was that "POP"? I am not sure that I want to do that to a bird, ya know? hehehe Is the leg out of its socket joint and does that bending of the leg actually pop it back in?
I have found the problem mostly happens when either I don't have enough nesting material or sometimes both parents sit on the squabs and I think it might force the leg into an awkward position?
I make it part of my routine to check on the nesting material and add more if needed. This is easier for me and I like that I am being proactive trying to prevent this kind of injury.
When it does occur, I have taken to culling them. I have a soft heart and it does bother some to have to do it, but I think it is better than to suffer through a life of being crippled and probably unable to breed. FLY ON! Tony Chavarria
Last Edited by rollerpigeon on Sep 06, 2004 9:23 PM
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Joe
Guest
Sep 07, 2004
2:10 AM
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Tony, I normally get a couple of splayed leg youngsters a year. In all cases It was a single nester and lack of nesting material. I do what Brian does and double ring the baby. Then I tie the piece of string through the rings(this way the yarn would never cut into the flesh) and pull the legs together about 3/4 inch apart. I do not remove the string until 2 days from weaning. I have had 100% success rate so far. I do fly these birds but I reframe from breeding from them.
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fhtfire
48 posts
Sep 07, 2004
8:30 AM
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FYI
I have seen little splints on FOY's pigeon supply. They are custom molded to a pigeon leg. Just a thought. It just seems the custom splint would be easier.
Paul
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Anonymous
Guest
Sep 07, 2004
12:12 PM
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I am not sure if it is broken. The youngster can not standup other nest mate have no problem standing up and walking. I guess it is not really broken but moved from where it suppose to be. I will grap and pics and post here this may help. Thanks
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Anonymous
Guest
Sep 07, 2004
12:14 PM
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Other thing Thor mentioned "Sprayed" which I guess define the situation however it not Sprayed to side but towards the front.
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Thor
24 posts
Sep 07, 2004
8:29 PM
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Hi Anno..
You can't miss it if the leggs are what I call 'sprayed'. It can be just be one legg or both leggs. If it is one leg like the one I just fixed, you will notice that one of the leg is sticking right out to the side of the bird and the other one is in the normal position. If it was two legs, the bird would look like it was doing a permenant split (each legs sticking out to the side).
The question is still, is it broken or sticking out of the side like paddles?
Thor
P.S. Tony, the 'POP' sound is caused by the socket. This proceder isn't necessary if you catch it early enough. Like I mentioned, I didn't catch it until it was 2 1/2 weeks old. I think the pain is temp thing and in the long run will out weigh what it was feeling when I resetted it's leg. Ask yourself this, would you rather die or get helped? Life is the obvious choice wouldn't you agree. (grin)
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MCCORMICKLOFTS
226 posts
Sep 07, 2004
8:45 PM
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Actually Thor, it is called "splayed" rather than sprayed. Good advice all around though. I am wondering about the topic though as I can't recall seeing a splayed legged youngster with swelling. The bird in question in the original post sounds like a circulation problem, maybe the band is cutting off the circulation in the area it is harmed, or it could be infected. Just some other thoughts to consider.
Brian.
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Anonymous
Guest
Sep 08, 2004
7:34 AM
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Guys, Just to confirm the youngster has sprayed legs, not just one but both. Left go foward and towards left and right go forward towards right. Please advise the simplest solution. The youngster is now about 5 weeks old.
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Thor
27 posts
Sep 11, 2004
7:08 PM
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Hi Anon.,
5 weeks is way too old in my mind... I tried saving once a 3 week old young but that lead to poor results and the bird had to be 'culled'. There are alot of good advice up above but this is for very young birds (1 week - 2 week old).
By 5 weeks, my young birds are usually flying about already. This means that their muscles have already started to form.
I think it is a lost cause but you can try 'POPING' the bones back in place and tie it together with some sort of string or rubber band material.
By 3 weeks, it is pretty much a lost cause. I would cut my lost and focuss on the remaining birds.
Good luck either way,
Thor
Last Edited by Thor on Sep 11, 2004 7:09 PM
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