[pigsatlesrues]

I have started up a little project which I have called 'Feathered Friends' with the support of my collegues in LACEF. ( www.lacef.fr ).  We have rehomed two dozen ex battery hens so far and I collected another dozen today. One of them has either broken or dislocated her wing at the elbow.  We have taped it up and she seems to be comfortable and is in no distress.

My question is:  How long should the wing be taped up?  We are not sure how old the injury is.  The area around the joint is blue and bloody/clotty bloody that is,  underneath the skin. which made me think it was recent. 

I want to rehome her, but will obviously keep her if it is going to be a long process.

Thanks all!

Kate 

[doganjo]

One of my dogs retrieved a chicken some years ago and pulled off the feathers and membrane down over the leg - I rinsed it out, squirted half a tube of savlon in, slapped the skin back up, wrapped a crepe bandage round it ad secured it with elastoplast. Removed it 10 days later and it had healed fine apart from a few squint feathers.  She lived another 3 years after that - the dog nearly didn't but here she is lying by my side 10 years later, now a stately and forgiven 12 year old.

[Rosemary]

We had a Brown Leghorn with a broken wing. The main joint was broken right through. It never looked injured though and we didn't even notice at first. It never healed but we had her for several years and she was fine. She could hold it normally and could even fly a bit.