new splint...

We had a fawn brought to us a week ago, big fawn, maybe 35 pounds and three months old. Broken back right leg, just below the hock. Some swelling, no break in skin though.



A friend is a Orthopedic therapist and builds splints for people. Got her to come out and look at the fawn. She brought a sack of goodies. Knocked the fawn out with .3 mg of Domitor and started work. She took 1.5 hours to build a two piece splint, clips together and supported by tape.



pics are before adding tape and small amount of vet wrap.









the splint is made of thermo-plastic. Its very light and has holes all over it. Heat it with hot water, shape it, and let it cool. Can be redone several times.



Its been on a week, been checking leg every day. Today we knocked him down again and removed splint to check. I HATE surprises....everything looked good. Replaced splint.

the baby deer is lucky to have you... just watch for pressure sores wherever the splint rubs the leg most- it looks nice and light which should help prevent the splint from rubbing the skin too much. my doe had a complete spiral fracture of the tibia (above the hock) and the splint was removed once in 3 weeks... she had terrible pressure sores which were cured quickly (they were not infected) with use of topical debriding solution (Granulex) and Excede every 10 days for a month. Her leg healed perfectly which is what I wish for your little deer. Looks like you are doing an exemplary job- thanks for posting your experience. I removed the splint after 3 full weeks.

I gave him 1/2cc Draxxin last week, repeated yesterday.



The leg, after one week, had no signs of rubbing or sores. The leg has a spot from the initial injury we were worried about being under the splint, but it looked good. We cleaned it while the splint was off.



He motoring pretty good and eating good, I think he will be ok.



That thermo-plastic stuff is pretty amazing. Light, super strong, and air holes to allow air movement. The therapist left me three full(12x18) sheets of the stuff. She said it costs like $180.00 a sheet!!!



troy

An odd thing though. The fawns is supposed to of come out of the wild last Wed nite, but, big but, he's tame as any bottle fed. Over three months of age, they are usually wild as all heck and unhandelable. Dang if I know.....

Maybe he's in shock still or perhaps the anesthesia has a calming effect? who knows? Don't forget to add probiotics to his feed... awesome job!

I thought shock at first, usually first thing when someone says "I've got this fawn and he's real tame"!!! But it's not shock, been too long, too tame.

bottle-fed... human-raised... no question about it.

The fawns bone has healed, he's walking lightly on it. Took the splint off first of the week.



here's better pics of the splint...



top and bottom..





outside view of top and bottom halves





two parts "snapped" together..





end of bottom showing curl to prevent scraping hoof..





not shown is padding, which was removed. There was NO wrapping of the leg, only stick-on padding on inside of splint. Total was just a few ounces.

Looks really impressive. I wish that stuff were commercially available at TSC or similar... Would you be willing to post a few pics of the fawn's leg? I'm curious to see how it healed. Is there a large callus formed?

I'll go by and get some pics. The fawns leg had a large swelling just below the break, it's still there, pretty hard to the touch. One quarter size sore that was present from the start is healing up, wrapping would of made that harder to control.



The fawn is walking on the leg, gingerly , but walking. I see no roadblock to a full recovery.



There was another fawn taken in a week before this one. Broken front leg, below the "knee". Wilder than all hail, no handling it at all. Heck no approaching it. It got put in a barn stall, hay, food, water, initial shot of Draxxin. Bone healed in three weeks, I saw it jump a four foot bar while playing, land and run on that leg. Damn, they are tough.... sometimes....

They're physically tough, just not psychologically... my fawn's leg healed really well. It's important that a callous forms and hardens up b/c that keeps the fracture well nourished and provides structure for the healing fracture. Full healing time is 12 months from start to finish. After six months they are in almost full weight-bearing mode.

I looked at the fawn today and took pics. He is walking on the leg, but holds it up when standing. Looks just like the day he was taken in a month ago. He's lost muscle mass in the upper leg, but is regaining it slowly.