Treatment of extremity fractures in 20 wild birds with a modified Meynard external fixator and clinical assessment of the results.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the outcome of the treatment on twenty wild birds presenting with fractures that were stabilised with modified Meynard external fixators. The study material consisted of a total of twenty birds of eight different species, six white storks (), one eastern imperial eagle (), one European honey buzzard (), one long-legged buzzard (), three common buzzard (), one northern goshawk (), one Armenian gull (), and six yellow-legged gulls () which were diagnosed with fractures in their extremity bones following clinical and radiological examinations. The lesions of the twenty cases evaluated in the study were diagnosed as humerus fractures in nine cases, ulna fractures in three cases, tibiotarsus fractures in seven cases and a femur fracture in one case. The external fixators were removed between weeks five and nine postoperatively. While healing was seen in twelve of the twenty evaluated cases, the complete functional recovery occurred in six of these and they were released into nature. It was concluded that modified Meynard external fixator, which was made applicable for fractures in birds, could be an alternative method for fracture treatments in wild birds.