Carrion crow with an injured leg.

[Zildjian]

There's a carrion crow in my garden which seems to have an injured left leg.
He's been hopping everywhere on his other leg and he often spends a lot of time lying down.
His other leg seems fine, he can fly perfectly and he's been eating well.
Is it worth trying to catch him and taking him to a wildlife rescue centre, or should I wait and see if it heals on it own?

I caught a woodpecker last year who had an injured wing and it sadly died a few days later at the wildlife rescue centre, they believed it died of stress.
I don't want that to happen again, but I also don't want it to suffer. He's become tame now and he's quite a character.

[valleyforge]

Hi Zildjian ... apologies that your post seems to have been unanswered so far.

For my part, I don't usually have that much time to browse the forums in depth so unless a posting is new, or bubbling near the top, I can often miss it.

In response to your query, in most circumstances it is entirely a judgement call as to what if anything should or can be done for a bird with a broken leg ... and I hope I'm speaking for the other wildlife rescue groups out there too in expanding further.

In many cases a bird can cope extremely well on just the one leg, with a stump, or with an improperly healed fracture, so whether to intervene or not is rather dependent on the nature of the break ... and how recent it is.

If the break is a compound fracture ... that is the bone can be seen protruding through the skin ... then certainly the bird may do a whole lot better with the veterinary administration of antibiotics, and some attempt to stabilize the fracture with a splint. Without treatment, such a bird may well succumb to secondary infections and suffer a protracted, painful death ... with veterinary and wildlife carer support, the bird may well recover sufficiently for an early return to wild living, albeit perhaps better released to a supportive environment where supplementary feeding may be continued.

For non-compound fractures then if the leg is observed dangling loosely, then there's probably still time to effect a good repair by splinting.

However quite often these breaks may even go un-noticed until some healing has already occurred ... bird bones fuse incredibly quickly ... so unless the fracture has healed at a very poor and disabling angle, it's usually best to leave well enough alone.

The bird may be somewhat disadvantaged, by perhaps being slower to get airborne, but otherwise should likely cope with its disability stoically and admirably ... supplementary feeding for birds with disabilities is of course always welcomed ... and is also somewhat good for the soul.

[treewee]

Well I know what I'd do with a crow and it involves an ounce of no. 7 shot.

[Jaeviatrix]

Why Treewee? Crows are intellegent, beautiful creatures. It's saddening that so many people would destroy them.

Please don't come out with any nonsense about predation on songbirds.

Zildjan-I hope your crow is looking better soon. I never know what to do in situation. Good on you for caring!

Jay

[Doggle Avaddit]

Originally Posted by Zildjian

There's a carrion crow in my garden which seems to have an injured left leg.
He's been hopping everywhere on his other leg and he often spends a lot of time lying down.
His other leg seems fine, he can fly perfectly and he's been eating well.
Is it worth trying to catch him and taking him to a wildlife rescue centre, or should I wait and see if it heals on it own?

I caught a woodpecker last year who had an injured wing and it sadly died a few days later at the wildlife rescue centre, they believed it died of stress.
I don't want that to happen again, but I also don't want it to suffer. He's become tame now and he's quite a character.

Sounds to me like he is learning or has learnt perfectly well how to cope with a broken leg. I doubt he sees it as a problem, why do you?

[Zildjian]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I continued to feed him and he seemed to be coping OK, but he's now been missing for a few days.
I do hope he's OK and that he'll return soon. He seemed to be coping well so I thought I'd leave him to see if it healed.

He was such a character; he used to sit on the tree in my garden, about 4 feet above our heads, and listen to our every word, tilting his head to the side as if he was trying to understand. He also used to store food underneath the bushes in the garden then come back for it later in the day.
It is true that they are incredibly intelligent creatures.

I'll let you know if he returns.

[shaun a]

As long as he/she can still fly and escape predation then it will be fine. Crows are very inteligent birds and very hardy to boot,as long as it is feeding and drinking and able to get away from cats or foxes it will recover enough to live a normal life

[treewee]

Originally Posted by Jaeviatrix

Why Treewee? Crows are intellegent, beautiful creatures. It's saddening that so many people would destroy them.

Please don't come out with any nonsense about predation on songbirds.

Zildjan-I hope your crow is looking better soon. I never know what to do in situation. Good on you for caring!

Jay

So they don't predate?

[pitre]

We have a Starling with only 1 leg, seems to be doing well we try to feed him but Magpie seems to gobble most of it when we tirn our backs

[shaun a]

Originally Posted by treewee

So they don't predate?

Yes they do predate but do we use an ounce of 7 shot on every bird that predates just to survive. I thought your comments to be very offensive,and totally out of order just my thoughts thats all