# Dislocated Hip?



## Crazy bird lady (Jul 25, 2011)

Hello everyone, I'm hoping I may be able to get some advice.. But first a little background i guess. About 3 weeks ago I rescued a racing homer from a warehouse I rent an art studio in. We had seen him for almost a week before I started trying to catch him.. At the beginning he'd fly up into the rafters but looked quite miserable. On the third day of trying, he was on the floor and had some difficulty walking, so I was able to get a net over him with very little trouble.
Once I had him home I called the society he was registered with and they promised to get the owner to call me, but I've heard nothing. I noticed a wound on his side under his right wing, scabbed over so I left it alone, only trimming the feathers around it to keep an eye on it. The wound has now completely healed, scab fallen off, skin looks great, but. The joint feels very loose, and he is very lame. Doesn't put weight on it, very little grip in his foot. He is starting to get very distressed if I try to handle him now. Is there a safe way to splint it? What should I do? I hate seeing him pain because he is a lovely bird. I'm plan on keeping him, but have limited resources as far as vets etc. Dont even know if there's an avian vet in the area. 
This has been very long winded, sorry .. Any advice would be wonderful.
Oh, he is eating like a machine, no problems there


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Where are you located?


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## Crazy bird lady (Jul 25, 2011)

I'm in Newcastle, Australia


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## Dobato (Jul 3, 2008)

CBL, do you think you could have a look at this link to better describe which bone, or were you think the joint is loose?

http://people.eku.edu/ritchisong/skeleton.html

Also, get this little one set up in a donut like in the link below in a small hospital cage for now, with food and water within easy beak reach.

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showpost.php?p=467722&postcount=6

Karyn


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## Crazy bird lady (Jul 25, 2011)

It's the joint between the femur and tibiotarsus.


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## Dobato (Jul 3, 2008)

Crazy bird lady said:


> It's the joint between the femur and tibiotarsus.


So it feel like behind the knee, where the tibiotarsus and femur meet, and towards the body, there is a loose joint, correct?

Karyn


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## Crazy bird lady (Jul 25, 2011)

Yes that's about right.. I'll try to explain a bit better  when I manipulate his leg, holding on to the tibiotarsus the joint above moves very freely at his side. Directly above this movement is where the wound was. He will sometimes put weight on it but more often not. I've set up the donut but he's up out of it preening himself at the moment.


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## Crazy bird lady (Jul 25, 2011)

He can use the leg.. I just spotted him scratching himself with it


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## Dobato (Jul 3, 2008)

Have a read of this thread, it will explain that what people think is a dislocation of the hip joint is most time a break in the femur. The femur can not be splinted, it can be pinned, but this is a surgical procedure and can be expensive.

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/f6/leg-out-of-hip-socket-53279.html

A am going to ask Pidgey to have a look in on your thread.

Karyn


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## Crazy bird lady (Jul 25, 2011)

Thanks Karyn, I see what you mean.. I'll partition off more of his cage to limit his movements further.. Do the bones knit well? What if the bone isn't aligned properly?


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Can we get a picture of the bird's side while holding the wing up and out of the way?

Pidgey


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## Crazy bird lady (Jul 25, 2011)

I can do that Pidgey.. Ill post it as soon as I get home from work


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## Crazy bird lady (Jul 25, 2011)

*images*

It took some doing but I have some photos! Poor guy didn't like having his wing held up. It seemed a little stiff. I went a bit nuts with the photos, because in the pics where I held his wing up the leg looked far more crooked than what it does when he's simply standing, so I got some front shots too.









So here is a side view of him at rest, favouring the leg as you can see.









Front on.









and side on with wing held up. That little bald spot directly under his wing was where the wound was. The skin has completely healed.

He has put on LOTS of weight since I first found him. Little porker


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Hmm... does he use it in the least? For the record, 3 weeks is "a long time ago" in terms of broken bones in birds. That is to say that there's probably no use in splinting anything at this point. I'd tend to just give him time and see how he gets on.

Pidgey


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## Crazy bird lady (Jul 25, 2011)

He does use the leg a little bit. He scratches himself with it, and does put a little weight on it from time to time, and he can hold it right up into his feathers when he is sleeping. I'll just continue to keep him quiet and as you said, see how he goes.
In all other aspects he's now a happy and healthy bird.. I hope the improvement will continue. Fingers crossed!
Thanks for all the advice


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## Crazy bird lady (Jul 25, 2011)

Just thought I might update.. Edgar is doing well I think... He is gripping with his foot and putting weight on his leg, although he still has a bit of a limp. He gets out on the floor and exercises his wings, doing a silly pedaling action with both legs. Not completely healed but much better, and improving every day now.


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## Dobato (Jul 3, 2008)

Sounds like things are coming along just about right for Edgar, thanks for the update.

Karyn


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Yeah, once I saw the pictures, I wasn't worried about this one.

Pidgey


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## Crazy bird lady (Jul 25, 2011)

I finally bought myself a good camera and managed to capture this pretty sweet shot of the Mr. giving his wings a workout.


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## Dobato (Jul 3, 2008)

Looking good , nice job,

Karyn


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## Crazy bird lady (Jul 25, 2011)

Thanks Karyn, and for your advice through all this.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Is Edgar getting friendly?

Pidgey


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## Crazy bird lady (Jul 25, 2011)

We're slowly getting over his fear, as he was in lots of pain at first and I guess he learned to associate me with that pain . He has since paired with my hen and has become calmer. She's a good influence on him I think, she's a dream to handle. And he's a very affectionate and attentive mate. He's getting easier, although I wouldn't go so far as saying he was friendly just yet


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## Dobato (Jul 3, 2008)

Crazy bird lady said:


> We're slowly getting over his fear, as he was in lots of pain at first and I guess he learned to associate me with that pain . He has since paired with my hen and has become calmer. She's a good influence on him I think, she's a dream to handle. And he's a very affectionate and attentive mate. He's getting easier, although I wouldn't go so far as saying he was friendly just yet


Over the next few weeks, try each day feeding him a small amount of raw, shelled sunflower hearts and/or raw, Spanish peanuts (human grade from the health food store, make sure you chop them up into small pieces). I don't think he will take them from your hand at first, so just place them where he can see it was you who is the Treat Lady. We want to replace the association of pain with you, to the association of "Oh boy I'm happy to see her, Treats! .

Karyn


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## Crazy bird lady (Jul 25, 2011)

I'm going to get some peanuts because you wouldn't believe it, they hate sunflower hearts! I bought a big pack and put some in their feed tray, and they chucked every single one out. They're lucky I eat them! Lol. I'll do as you suggested  as I'd like them to come down to me rather than me going to them when they're on top of 'their' bookcase. But he no longer grunts when I get near him and is accepting neck scritches now. It's a start. He's a sucker for a scratch


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## Dobato (Jul 3, 2008)

Crazy bird lady said:


> I'm going to get some peanuts because you wouldn't believe it, they hate sunflower hearts! I bought a big pack and put some in their feed tray, and they chucked every single one out. They're lucky I eat them! Lol. I'll do as you suggested  as I'd like them to come down to me rather than me going to them when they're on top of 'their' bookcase. But he no longer grunts when I get near him and is accepting neck scritches now. It's a start. He's a sucker for a scratch


Are you sure these guys are really pigeons and not aliens , a pigeon not liking sunflower hearts, very strange . Just make sure the peanuts are raw, human grade and most importantly, are chopped up.

Karyn


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## Crazy bird lady (Jul 25, 2011)

Lol I sometimes wonder! I'll grab their goodies on the way home from work..


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