Help...hurt or injured leg

[newbirdparent]

Hi...I am a new bird parent of four finches in a nice home aviary. I am new to the bird life, and a very uncertain of them. The other day, "Clara" got her leg band caught on some nesting materials. She was hanging upside down in the cage unable to free herself when we found her. After doing our best to free her, she fell to the bottom of the cage. She can still fly about cage, get in and out of her nest, but isn't able to "grab" the tree to sit with her one leg. She is holding her little leg up to her and just laying on it, but not really using it. Is there something I can be doing to help her? I am not overly comfortable reaching into the cage to catch her, as all of the birds really wig out and I am trying not to inflick any more pain on her. Any advise would be greatly appreciated as a five and six year old are closely monitoring her progress with me as well. Thank you in advance, and I have really learned a LOT from this website. Great Site!!!

[Sally]

Welcome to the forum, and sorry your little Clara has hurt herself. Is the leg sticking out to the side at all, or is it pretty much in the right position, just tucked up under her? If it is the latter, she has hopefully just bruised it, and it will heal in time. She will keep her weight off it for now. Just keep an eye on her. If the cage is large enough, you can put either a clamp-on light or a gooseneck lamp on the side of the cage, with a 60w bulb. It is important, though, that she is able to move away from the heat when she wants, so the lamp needs to be pointed at just one end of one perch. Heat is one of the best things you can give a sick or injured bird, so they don't have to spend so much energy in just keeping warm.

[L in Ontario]

I agree with Sally about giving the hen the choice of getting close to a heatlamp.

Also, are you absolutely sure that no nesting material is still around it's leg?

...and WELCOME to the Finch Forum!

[newbirdparent]

So armed with information and a determination to help her, I went home with the goal of catching "clara" to check out the leg for nesting debris. "NewBirdParent" totally describes us as two adults are trying to catch clara, a five and six year old watching with BIG eyes, and a cat close by loving all the bird motion in the aviary. After letting two of the other birds out and giving my 14 pound cat an afternoon thrill...(until the kids tackled the cat)...we finally caught Clara. The leg band had slipped forward pinning the back toe forward. When we were finally able to slide it back, the claw that goes to the back appeared to no longer work and is sort of "limply hanging there" Is there anything else we can be doing for her?? We also did put a lamp for heat in the corner of the highest perch for her. (she seems to like that) Any other advise?? Thank you so very much in advance.

[L in Ontario]

Oh my - you had quite the time catching Clara but it was well worth the effort and I applaud you (and the whole family) for your dedication. She may get the use of her toe back if it hasn't turned black. Just give her lots of quiet time with the much appreciated heatlamp, good food, water and maybe a good book for her to read. (kidding re the book).

[Raleighwheels]

If she has a broken toe, there really isn't much that can be done for her. It will heal on its own unless the blood supply to the toe has been broken. If this is so, then the toe may eventually wither and fall off. Like others have said, the best thing you can do is just give her a heat lamp, food and some water.

[B CAMP]

As everyone said,heat will do wonders for her make sure she can get water and seed .In no time she will be fine they adapt really well

[franny]

...., and a cat close by loving all the bird motion in the aviary. After letting two of the other birds out and giving my 14 pound cat an afternoon thrill...(until the kids tackled the cat)...

Wow, that was lucky! If you ever need to catch up one of the birds again, don't forget to check where the cat is first! My cat is old, and doesn't show much interest in the birds anymore... but I'm no fool, and if one got out of the cage I'm sure she'd muster up the effort to try to catch it!