Sparrow Hawk fracture - options?

RE: Sparrow Hawk fracture - options?

Julian Earl — Thu, 04 Aug 2016 22:28:03 GMT

I think that you have to either go the whole hog and get it repaired properly or euthanase as others have said. A partial repair in a raptor means a likely death by starvation. Any friendly referral centres who would take it on, plus a wildlife rehabilitation centre. I love birds of prey so would be sorry to hear of euthanasia. Sparrowhawks are such exciting birds to watch so a non-union would be terrible on all counts.

RE: Sparrow Hawk fracture - options?

grumpyoldman — Thu, 04 Aug 2016 21:47:33 GMT

I would also have a good look at it for Eye Damage ,Ptrygium injury ,Nerve Damage, and Coracoid displacement/injury. ESF with k-band wires and technovit injected into a 4mm disposable none cuffed ET tube is cheap as chips and works really well.

RE: Sparrow Hawk fracture - options?

David Mills — Thu, 04 Aug 2016 20:41:51 GMT

Thanks for the info Marie. Nowhere close enough to spin this on to (at least not with vet attached, Stapeley is too far), looking into whether they could rehab the bird after. It's something I would be confident attempting given the situation though my bird surgery/medicine is miniscule.

I agree with others - would only consider repair if the outcome could be good and the bird released, not advocating captivity.

RE: Sparrow Hawk fracture - options?

Marie Kubiak — Thu, 04 Aug 2016 19:59:44 GMT

Repair is possible - you have a fairly nondisplaced ulnar fracture with the radius providing splinting support. Close to the joint but a tie-in hybrid fixator (or cross wires are advocated by some authors but I find these harder to place well at this site) should give stability and if you can stabilise the fracture well the callus formation shouldn't be large and the bird can be released in 3-4 weeks.

However, it will be fiddly so not one to try as a first bird orthopaedic surgery. An unstable repair will cause bridging callus to bind radius and ulna preventing normal wing rotation. Plus bird bones are brittle and any glitches will lose you your proximal fragment. You will also need a suitable 'rehab' facility to support the bird until fracture repair is complete, a hospital cage won't work.

I would be tempted to give it analgesia, temporarily bandage it (figure of eight bandage to stablise entire wing) and forward this on to a wildlife facility if you have one locally with a vet attached. Surgery can then be done by someone more bird experienced (apologies if you/your night vet are already!) and there will be on site recovery facilities.

If not an option to deflect this case and no-one if feeling confident they can give surgery a good go then euthanasia is the next best option.

Marie

RE: Sparrow Hawk fracture - options?

Anthony Dennison — Thu, 04 Aug 2016 10:10:05 GMT

[quote user="Michael Woodhouse"]

My view would be to PTS as I'm not keen on the ethics of placing wild animals into captivity - unless easily fixable and releasable with a good chance of recovery.

[/quote]

Unfortunately I'd agree here. With the fracture being so close to the joint as well, callous formation in pneumatic (sp?) bones is quite dramatic and may include the joint which would not be good.

Have you passed it on to the vet at Stapely David? They were very helpful when I rang them.

RE: Sparrow Hawk fracture - options?

Michael Woodhouse — Thu, 04 Aug 2016 02:19:00 GMT

My view would be to PTS as I'm not keen on the ethics of placing wild animals into captivity - unless easily fixable and releasable with a good chance of recovery.

RE: Sparrow Hawk fracture - options?

Robin Grimmer — Wed, 03 Aug 2016 21:58:54 GMT

How about doing nothing? It looks like a tiny fragment and very close to the joint. You could maybe strap the wing to the body with some vetwrap. I think sadly his flying days are over :(