Injured young feather footed chick

[jjohnson243]

I have a young feather footed Barred Rock chick that has an injured right foot/leg. She is about 4/5 weeks old. The joint is quite swollen. She is still eating and drinking fine, but can't move much. She originally on pine shavings, then when it got cold, I put her with my 6 - one week old bantam silkie chicks because she was the only one I had out of that hatching and was alone. They get along fine, and cuddle right up to her. I had them on rough paper towels over mesh, but just put them all on pine shavings. Her leg has been like this for 3 days, so any ideas what I can do to help her? I am about to clip the feathers off to get a better look (unless soneone has an idea that doesn't require doing this).

 

[mymilliefleur]

could it have sprained/pulled the joint some how? its a good sign that shes eating. I would just isolate her and just watch and see if she improves. I have seen a number of broken/sprained legs over the years, and they have always healed up just fine so don't worry. make shore shes comfortable and does'nt have to go far for food and water.

BTW-what breed is she?

 

[jjohnson243]

I was told she is a feather footed Barred Rock, but I've never seen anything like her...I've seen the bantams, but these were regular sized chickens. I met someone who had a few and talked them out of a few eggs...but only one hatched.

She isn't moving much now, but the leg turn almost backwards when she sets it down, which I can't seem to get a pic of. She seems comfortable with the little silkies, which are about 1/4 of her size.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry about your chick. I would guess that she has a leg bone deformity, such as a valgus-varus deformity, a twisted tibia, or tibial dischondroplasia. Look up "bone deformities in chickens" on google, since I can't post links at this time. I would start some poultry vitamins to add to the feed to see if it helps stop any progression, but many times the tendon in the hock joint may rupture as the chick ages.

 

[jjohnson243]

She is still eating and drinking just fine. I took her to a vet, and he told me it was a Slipped Tendon or Perosis for which he said there is no cure. Now every time she straightens her leg, it twist completely backwards. She has been living with the silkie babies, who are about 5 weeks old now, and they still snuggle right up to her every night. She hobbles around their pen, and in the small yard outside when it is nice out. She isn't in pain, and is the sweetest bird, but the vet told me she should be put down. I couldn't bring myself to do that while my 5 year old was with me, so decided to see if there was absolutely anything else I could do. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[mymilliefleur]

If she is not in pain, and seems to be doing fine, I would keep her.
I had a rooster once that broke and twisted his leg backward. He healed just fine, but his leg remained twisted backward. He got along just fine though, hopping after the hens on one leg.

 

[Eggcessive]

Here are some good articles on leg deformities in poultry:
http://www.avitechnutrition.com/pdf/technical-bulletin/2009/Leg Weakness Disorders in Poultry.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1790586/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...chick-anyone-ever-try-to-fix-this-experiences
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/6/diseases-of-poultry/220/slipped-tendon-perosis
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/30/chondrodystrophy-slipped-tendon-or-perosis