Broken leg? How to tell?

[Araylee]

I think my yearling doe has a broken leg, but I can't tell for sure. DH looked outside this evening and saw her rolling on her back by her play structure (ramp, table, and another ramp going down) and said "Oh, that's weird, she's rolling on her back!..." When I went out to grain a couple of hours later she was a tripod-she is holding her third leg (left hind) entirely off the ground. She stood up and hopped to the gate, then ate her grain like normal, just on three legs instead of four. Her leg is swollen below the knee and it kind of dangles at an odd angle, but it's hard to tell if it's dangling because it's broken or because the swelling is putting pressure at an odd spot. She does have a minor abrasion where the swelling is--so how can you tell if it's broken vs. sprained or bruised? I do have vet wrap but I'm afraid to splint it since I can only feel warm swollen tissue rather than individual bones. Do I wait for the swelling to go down? If it doesn't appear to get better or she really starts to act like she is hurting, how much does a trip to a large animal vet for a broken leg cost?? (assuming xrays and simple fracture, no surgery?)
I don't want to put her through the trauma of loading her up and taking her to the vet if I don't have to. In addition, her best buddy (I have two goats) is pregnant and due to kid in two weeks, and I don't want to stress her out by taking her friend away, either.
My best guess is that she tripped over herself and fell off her play structure. She's kinda clumsy. I can't tell why she has a scraped spot on the side of her leg unless she scraped it falling off and it's just swollen because she bumped it?

Anyway, rambling here! What do you experienced goatspeople do? Can I safely wait it out and see if the swelling goes down? Should I wrap it and see if that helps?

Thanks for the help, I appreciate it!

 

[PattySh]

Never had a goat with a broken leg. But have had a couple of dogs with broken legs. I do know that if it is broken it needs to be seen by a vet to make sure the bones line up properly. It only taken a few days for the bones to start mending and if they are in the wrong position it can turn out badly. If she isn't walking on it tomorrow I would suggest a vet visit. I could actually feel the broken bones on the dog. Will she let you ice it! Be careful about wrapping it swollen. I wouldn't use just vet wrap it can get too tight quickly. Use some fluffy liner like a soft towel then use vet wrap if you have to stabilize it and check it often for tightness. Sorry to say that broken bones are generally not cheap vet visits. I am pretty sure you can give Advil to a goat at double human dose. I'd see if she'd walk on it with some pain relief.

 

[Our7Wonders]

Arnica Montana (homeopathic pellets) can take swelling and bruising away in no time flat. I've seen it take swollen lumps away on my children in minutes (my kids aren't always very graceful, we've had our share of bumps and bruises to test it on!) If you don't have it on hand most any health food store or even grocery stores that have a small health food section in it should have it. If it can help the swelling you might be able to better tell what you're dealing with.

Hope she's better soon.

 

[Roll farms]

I wouldn't think a simple fracture would be a huge bill...we had a lamb break a leg once and it was around 100$ total.

I don't think there's anything you can do at home, unless you have a friend who's a dr / nurse / EMT you can call to come feel it / set it for you.

Good luck!

 

[20kidsonhill]

We have had a couple goats with clear snapped broken legs, between the knee and the foot, It is very obvious, it dangles and was loose from the rest of the leg, We took an appropriate size length and width of PVC pipe cut it in half the long way, Made it long enough to fit between the knee and the foot(just above the hoof. Put soft paper towel around the leg, put the pvc halve on both side of the leg and wrapped it in more paper then duct tape. Put them in a small stall with food and water and gave them Penn G shots twice a day for a week.

They both healed fine, and you could never tell.

One hung herself on a cedar tree branch, and the other tried to jump a fence caught her leg in the woven wire as she was going over and snapped it.

If it is dangling and loose feeling, another words you can't move it around from the rest of the leg, I would put her in a small pen, to give it a week or two to heal, but if it is loose it will need be set and wrapped.

 

[cmjust0]

Depending on how much swelling there is, it may not dangle much.. That's why breaks swell...kinda like the body's way of 'self-splinting,' for lack of a better way to put it..

If it were mine, I'd take it to the vet for an x-ray and possibly a cast or splint.

I've only had one kid to break a bone, and it was...um...well it was the worst thing I've ever been through with a goat, as it was a 7 wk old kid and he *shattered* his femur. Euthanized.. I spent days wishing -- if it had to happen -- that he'd have twisted just a little different and broken a cannon bone, like what you're describing..

And FWIW, he had an abrasion at the point of the break where he hung it up.. If I had to guess, I'd say...yep...you're looking at a break.

Good luck..

 

[Araylee]

Bugger. Called two vets to get ballpark estimates. Roll, it ain't no $100!! Hubby gave me the go-ahead for $150-$200 ish range.

First vet: $65 exam fee, $149 x-ray, $100 cast fee and $74 anesthesia...$375+

Second vet: "hard to say, don't have exact price quote, depends, yadda yadda...$103 for xrays, $43 exam fee, ....maybe $300-400 total? The second vet sounds a bit cheaper but are 45 minutes to an hour away vs. 15 minutes.

We paid a pretty penny for her because we wanted good breeding stock to start with, in case we wanted to start a dairy. Like a lot of you, however, we're not exactly rolling in money. On the other side, don't want her to suffer needlessly. Went out to see her this morning, swelling is bad but she's still up and eating. GaH!! DH thinks we can cast it ourselves w/ decent results. I'm concerned that it's not a simple hairline fracture type break and it's going to get infected or ruined if we attempt to go it alone.

I know this kind of thing happens w/ livestock and was expecting to have something like this happen eventually. Really though? She's 12 months, not a wild baby, and she broke the back leg which is pretty well unheard of in goat land. Apparently.

Sigh. I know the vet has to make a living too, and I think she's worth fixing, it's just a bit of a shock to see a number that high.
Thanks for the ideas and support. Will likely look at it w/ hubby tonight and make a decision then.

 

[freemotion]

A back leg will likely heal better since they carry most of their weight on the front legs....unless she stands on her hind legs a lot. What if you got the exam and xrays, then take her home and splint it yourself if needed? Or just tell the vet that this is your budget (after exam and xrays, not up front) and that you cannot skip the mortgage payment for a goat, as much as you love her, you are on the edge right now. I did this with a baby goat a couple years ago and the vet was good to me, did bare minimum tests and meds. While she was doing the xrays, the rest of the vets came in from the road (big horse practice) and I had three more vets standing around suggesting more and more tests. I started to panic and I glanced at the vet I was working with and she got out of their line of sight and gave me a reassuring signal.

This was not my normal experience, but we were in a very tight spot and I just laid it on the line with her, privately. Looking pretty miserable about it probably helped, too.

 

[Roll farms]

The more I read about expensive vet bills on here, the more I appreciate our vets.
I'm not saying they're 'cheap'...but they sure don't ream me the way they do some folks I see here....and give me the meds I want w/ out making me bring the critters in, etc.

Please let us know what you end up deciding, and hoping it works out, either way.

 

[Araylee]

OK! The vet was not willing to work with us, Soooo...
Trip to feed store= roll of cotton, several rolls of vet wrap, and a 2" PVC pipe. When we got out there she was shaking w/ pain. Now, she is limping around on all legs, eating her dinner...and getting cuddles. YAY! Gave her penicillan and ibuprofen. Anything I'm missing? oh yes-she broke the top bone but not the bottom, which was great news to me!!