Gouldian male with broken leg.

[skyjump100]

I brought home 4 Gouldians yesterday evening from a lady who has over extended herself with birds and got a little out of control. During the trip home one of the males got his foot caught in the wire door. We released his leg but it looked at a funny angle so have assumed it was possibly broken. The birds were kept in small dark cages so not sure if it got spooked by lights during the drive home.

I decided that as I felt the birds were already stressed, I would leave the new birds in their old cages overnight to settle again before moving them to their new homes. In hindsight this was possibly the wrong thing to do as this morning I confirmed that the leg was broken so now need to know what to do. I have read some articles on here about what to do but I don't feel that I can put a splint on as the leg is at such an angle that I don't think I should/could move it back into alignment.

Should or can I leave the leg as it is and hope that the wee lad isn't in any pain or should I get him to a vet for assessment (the vet is about 30miles away) and treatment.

Any advice is very much appreciated.

[Sally]

This is something I have not attempted to do myself. I am somewhat clumsy with my hands, and so I worry that I will harm the bird if I try it. Others have successfully splinted legs. I have had birds that have injured their legs/feet to the point that blood circulation was cut off, and the leg/foot simply died, turned black, and fell off. It is difficult to know whether a bird is in pain or not.

[debbie276]

Found this but if the leg is way out of position I'm not sure it will help you.
http://www.starlingtalk.com/fractures.htm

I find when bringing new birds home they do best in a cardboard box. It's dark enough that they remain calm and don't flit all over being scared by objects near them or lights flashing.

Best of luck, please keep us posted how he does

[skyjump100]

Yes, I agree with you Debbie and usually I use a proper transport cage where this sort of thing would never happen. In this instance the lady wanted me to take both pairs which were in breeding cages which in my opinion were way too small. The easiest thing was to put the lot in my car which was my mistake. I simply cant describe the conditions the birds were in but suffice to say I needed to shower when I got home!!!! The lady did indeed love her birds but things had just got out of control. Even with the two pairs I bought plus a friend bought one pair she still had 33 pairs in cages that were approx. 15x 12x12. There were also 6 young in another cage plus some more in a separate cage. There were two budgies a cockatoo and some unpaired Gouldians in a flight cage. In the kitchen there was a cage with some star finches, hecks and zebra. There was another cage with zebras in and one with a pair of love birds. There were cages everywhere.

Sally, I've also had a young finch that caught its foot, stopped the blood flow and eventually fell off. She went on to raise some lovely clutches and was a great mother.

[debbie276]

Wow, that's too bad that it got that far out of hand. I usually bring a few of those petshop cardboard critter boxes with me when ever I look at birds, you just never know when you'll need them. Even when I buy the cage and all I still put the birds into the box for safe keeping.
So glad you and others were able to save a few. How are they health wise? Be sure to quarantine. Sounds like you need to go back for more.
best of luck

[skyjump100]

That's a good idea Debbie, I should invest in some cardboard boxes. They are definitely in quarantine

There were nest boxes on the breeding cages which she wanted me to keep but to be honest when I looked in them something was crawling around in there so I threw them out and gave them clean ones. They have to start nest building again but at least they will be clean

I wish I could take more birds but I would end up in the same situation.

[finchmix22]

What a shame she is not able to care for all those finches. Hopefully, someone else can rescue more. Good luck with your new ones!