Harris Hawk

A Harris hawk was admitted today with a suspected fractured leg.
This had occurred due to stress on the limb when the bird attempted to fly and was prevented from doing so by the jess attached to its leg.

The first step in the birds treatment was to x-ray to identify specifically where the break was so that surgery would be accurate. The bird was masked, to prevent stress as the talons, which are the most dangerous part of any bird of prey, were taped to prevent any damage to nurses or to the vet when the bird was being treated.
The bird was then sedated with gas to allow a x-ray to be taken. I was told that this method of sedation is the most reliable and carries the lowest risk, as the birds will recover quickly from the sedation, should anything go wrong. The resulting x-ray of the hawks right leg, showed a severe break, which was fairly clean, with limited splintering.

The hawk was then prepared for surgery. With birds of prey it is essential that anaesthesia is monitored constantly as birds are not particularly tolerant of this.
Once the vet was confident that the hawk was comfortable, the area of the fracture was plucked of feathers and cleaned with Tamodine. it was clear at this point that there was significant bruising of the area.
A incision was then made, with extreme care taken to ensure that the muscles were not cut through. the vet then selected two metal rods which would be used to support the bone and realign it. This process is called retro alignment. When I asked the vet why two rods were used, I was told that this was to prevent the limb from rotating in a way that it would previously have been unable to, thereby ensuring that the bone was kept as straight as possible to speed up the recovery time.
The rods were inserted from the bottom (ie the talon end) up towards the upper leg, until they appeared on the other side. Then with the use of a hand drill they were slowly turned back down into the leg, fixing the bone in position.
When the vet was confident that the bone was aligned in the position that was required, the incision was stitched up before the skin was stitched over the top of the muscle. The rods were then cut with cutters, and the immediate movement of the limb was gently tested.
The hawk was then wrapped in a soft towel to ensure that when it came round it would not do damage to itself by flying into the cage doors, damaging the wings and the affected leg.
The hawk was kept in overnight with the possibility of being discharged the next day depending on progress.
I was told by the operating vet that this is a fairly common injury in birds of prey, particularly hawks used for falconry. this is due to the hawk having a finer more delicate bone in this region than falcons for example, who are less likely to have this injury, as their legs are less likely to give under the stress of attempting to fly against the Jess.
This is therefore something that falconers need to watch out for as orthopedic care in birds such as this is high risk.