Budgie parakeets > Talking birds > Broken limbs

Broken limbs

Fractures of the bones usually heal with surprising quickness, the most ordinary being a break of the lower part of the leg. When this occurs it is merely necessary, to have the bird rest quietly in order to heal perfectly, and as a rule the feet will lot be at all crooked, even if it has no attention.

It is better, of course, to get both ends of the bone into the right position by carefully drawing and pulling them into shape, and then put two or three pieces of small wood around the leg which act as splints and bind these rather firmly with a thick, soft woolen thread, and smear thickly and evenly over it plaster so as to keep the leg stiff. Hold the bird fast until it has hardened and then put it in a small cage or box where it cannot move around much.

Sometimes it is sufficient to simply hind the splints on without the use of plaster, but as a rule the bird is quite apt to pull at the string and injure itself even worse than if the leg were left without splints.

In some cases the splints have been held on in a satisfactory manner by the use of court plaster, or by binding with adhesive tape such as is used for mending bicycle tires.

Usually when a wing is broken it will cure itself without treatment, but sometimes if the bird is quite active it is best to bind a bandage around the bird's body which will confine the injured wing to its side until it has a chance to heal, which it will usually do in a week or ten days.