Swollen hock in broiler chicken.

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bmchicken

bmchicken

Hatching
Mar 14, 2016
8
0
9
Millbury, OH
One of our 4 week old broilers has a swollen hock. And it seems the joint is bending to the side to much. It will still walk but hobbles around just to eat. Is there anything we can do? Cull?
 
That can often happen in fast growing hybrids such as the Cornish Crosses whose growth outstrips their joints, as well as there can be genetic flaw in the depth of the joint grooves causing the hock to slip.

You can cull now (which I tend to do), or if the animal seems unbothered, you'll have to watch and see if the bird can bear the weight gain on that leg being mindful to control the diet so that it is not continuing to ingest so much protein. (You may need to check your protein percentage for the sake of all the birds to be sure this isn't a sign that you are pushing them too quickly such that others will begin to exhibit problems too).

Chances are it is a genetic defect with shallow joint grooves (slipped hock). You can consider splinting until butchering knowing that you may have to harvest early if the animal is in pain.

We had to cull a turkey with slipped hock issues as it became so bad there was no way the bird would be able to hold weight on the leg.

My thoughts.
LofMc
 
Lady of McCamley said:
That can often happen in fast growing hybrids such as the Cornish Crosses whose growth outstrips their joints, as well as there can be genetic flaw in the depth of the joint grooves causing the hock to slip.

You can cull now (which I tend to do), or if the animal seems unbothered, you'll have to watch and see if the bird can bear the weight gain on that leg being mindful to control the diet so that it is not continuing to ingest so much protein. (You may need to check your protein percentage for the sake of all the birds to be sure this isn't a sign that you are pushing them too quickly such that others will begin to exhibit problems too).

Chances are it is a genetic defect with shallow joint grooves (slipped hock). You can consider splinting until butchering knowing that you may have to harvest early if the animal is in pain.

We had to cull a turkey with slipped hock issues as it became so bad there was no way the bird would be able to hold weight on the leg.

My thoughts.
LofMc
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info! We're feeding a %22 broiler feed from kalambach! There nutritionist said to keep them on that til slaughter. All the other birds are fine. 38 total. We seperated it from the rest so it's more comfortable. I will wait a couple days and see if it's in more pain or not. If it looks to be in pain I think I will cull it. Do you think it's safe to eat still?
 
Yes...it should be safe to eat if there are no other symptoms other than the slipped hock. It sounds like a genetic flaw. Not bad odds considering 1 out of almost 40.

LofMc
 
Lady of McCamley said:
Yes...it should be safe to eat if there are no other symptoms other than the slipped hock. It sounds like a genetic flaw. Not bad odds considering 1 out of almost 40.

LofMc
Click to expand...

Yea it would be the second one we lost. The first was only two days old and we think it got smothered in shipping. Last year we didn't lose any.
 

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