Swollen leg joint - can chickens break their legs? with picture

[2Roos]

I have a Barred Rock pullet that has been going through the exact same thing. She just came up lame one day out of the blue. We brought her in the house for about a month. She has a wonderful appetite and got to where she was hobbling around pretty good. The same joint is swollen as in your chicken. Feet look fine. We finally put her back out with the other chickens and she is still lame but can run and jump when she needs to. The rest of the flock is fine so I don't know what happened to cause it. I just figured she had hurt it. I don't know what caused it but she seems to be getting along fine.

We also feed Purina Layena and scratch grains along with bread, bananas, cooked broccoli, oranges. and the occasional leftover spaghetti noodles which is fun to watch them eat.

It has been a couple of months since she became lame and I couldn't cull her for the world. My daughter hatched her and three others in a home made incubator and they are big pets. Just give yours the chance and she may come out of it OK.

I have just now read your post from a while back. Have you had any luck in finding anything to help? I now have a Buff Orpington hen who has the same symptoms and I would like to try anything to help her. She is so sweet. Any information you could provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[rancher hicks]

I logged on since I have a hen with this problem too. I also have rooster who joint, the same joint, appears to be out of joint. I'm hoping to find out how to put the roosters leg back in place.

 

[2colegroves]

I have a 16 week old silver wyandotte who was hopping around standing on one leg, but mostly sitting. I took her inside and put her in a shallow box with food and water thinking it was no big deal - she'd
probably be better in a day or two and then she'd go back outside.

She seems very content to sit in her box (that she could easily fly
out). When we go visit her, she stands up to greet us but always
holds up that leg. I've examined her foot many times - it is perfectly
clean with sign of injury, swelling, or discoloration.

It's been 6 days now.

Today I got my husband to help me examine her again and now it's obvious one leg joint is much bigger than the other and she's keeping her toes curled on that leg. She can't put any weight on it at all.

Picture shows the size difference, although it's much more apparent to feel it. The lower one is bigger:

Did she break a leg? Or is this a genetic defect?

If so what do I do? If she's not going to heal and is a lot of pain, how do I put her out of her misery if that is the right thing to do?

I'm quite sad but want some advice and to do the right thing.

PS By the way, at about 6 weeks when I moved her and 3 others outside from their brooder, she and one other fell ill with Coccidiosis and she nearly died (the other one was a silkie and she did die). So
perhaps she is weak from that. Since then, she has been extremely
mellow, tame, and of course - the kids favorite.

Oh my, this is exactly whats wrong with my duck, her joint is so swelled and hot and she can't use it at all, I hope she is not in a lot of pain, I guess that is whats wrong with my duck, it happened over night with mine. She was perfect and the next morning she is hoping on one leg. Ahhhh! Makes me cry.

 

[Kim95037]

I know this is an old thread, but I have a Barred Rock with both joints like this. They are HUGE and do feel very warm. Anyone had any luck finding out what this is or what to do? I've been massaging them, she seems to like it and I put some stuff I got at the Tractor Store on it but I dont know if its helping.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I know this is an old thread, but I have a Barred Rock with both joints like this. They are HUGE and do feel very warm. Anyone had any luck finding out what this is or what to do? I've been massaging them, she seems to like it and I put some stuff I got at the Tractor Store on it but I dont know if its helping.

For what it matters and if it matters the part of the chicken you are describing is his foot or ankle.

I would suspect in this order.

A. Mareks Disease

B. A vitamin deficiency

C. An injury of one kind or the other.

But if I had to bet my money instead of your money, I would say, A. Mareks Disease, and that the swelling that you feel are the tumors associated with Mareks.

 

[Kim95037]

The joints I am talking about are the exact ones on the chicken in the picture above, its the first joint above the foot. I am not familiar with Mareks disease, I will have to look into that. Is there a test for that? They were vaccinated as chicks for Mereks. I took her to the vet and we did xrays to make sure nothing was broken and we didnt see anything so we figured it was an injury that may get better. Do chickens get arthritis? Im wondering if it may be a really bad case of gout? Maybe too much protein? I give these guys a lot of the dried meal worms and sometimes the live ones. But they also get lots of different snacks, watermelon, blueberries, salad greens, sunflower seeds and scratch. They eat better than I do, really. I currently have them on a layer feed -- the Purina Omega 3 Layena Plus, and I mix that 1/2 and 1/2 with a bag of mix that I buy from a local feed store, that is a mixture of layer pellets, corn, red wheat and ground up oyster shell. I wonder if I should just switch everyone over to chick starter for a while. I have three new EEs, they're about 12 weeks old, and when I let everyone out to free range Im having to shoo the EEs out of the part of the coop where my older girsl are because I dont want them to eat the feed with the oyster shell, its not good for them until they are of laying age. Would that be ok to do? Im more concerned about the health of everyone more than egg laying, these guys are more my pets than anything else. Thank you so much for checking in on this thread and replying, I really appreciate it. Thank you.

 

[farcus7415]

I have a Barred Rock pullet that has been going through the exact same thing. She just came up lame one day out of the blue. We brought her in the house for about a month. She has a wonderful appetite and got to where she was hobbling around pretty good. The same joint is swollen as in your chicken. Feet look fine. We finally put her back out with the other chickens and she is still lame but can run and jump when she needs to. The rest of the flock is fine so I don't know what happened to cause it. I just figured she had hurt it. I don't know what caused it but she seems to be getting along fine.

We also feed Purina Layena and scratch grains along with bread, bananas, cooked broccoli, oranges. and the occasional leftover spaghetti noodles which is fun to watch them eat.

It has been a couple of months since she became lame and I couldn't cull her for the world. My daughter hatched her and three others in a home made incubator and they are big pets. Just give yours the chance and she may come out of it OK.

 

[farcus7415]

I put out a post concerning the same signs in my Jersey Giant and had not heard anything. I found your post from a few years ago and I was wondering what came of it? My girl has a left swollen hock. It is warmer than the other leg. She will set it down, but not walk on it. My girl has a great appetite. I take her out and let her get some fresh air in the evenings and the other girls try to attack her, so I keep everyone away from her so she doesn't hurt herself further. I don' t know what else to do. I am going to splint it today and see if that helps, but how do I help reduce the swelling? I'm at a loss, any help is appreciated.
Johna

 

[anna-newhampshire]

HI Johna @farcus7415
I'm sorry - saw your post earlier but forgot to reply. And I empathize so much with the love and worry you feel for a defenseless little thing...

People had success in Europe reducing inflammation with a cabbage poultice https://holistic-hen.blogspot.com/2016/01/treating-swollen-feet-or-joints-with.html#.Vpuv9l5VKlM . If it was my hen I would try it...

 

[emily_snow707]

I have a 16 week old silver wyandotte who was hopping around standing on one leg, but mostly sitting. I took her inside and put her in a shallow box with food and water thinking it was no big deal - she'd
probably be better in a day or two and then she'd go back outside.

She seems very content to sit in her box (that she could easily fly
out). When we go visit her, she stands up to greet us but always
holds up that leg. I've examined her foot many times - it is perfectly
clean with sign of injury, swelling, or discoloration.

It's been 6 days now.

Today I got my husband to help me examine her again and now it's obvious one leg joint is much bigger than the other and she's keeping her toes curled on that leg. She can't put any weight on it at all.

Picture shows the size difference, although it's much more apparent to feel it. The lower one is bigger:

Did she break a leg? Or is this a genetic defect?

If so what do I do? If she's not going to heal and is a lot of pain, how do I put her out of her misery if that is the right thing to do?

I'm quite sad but want some advice and to do the right thing.

PS By the way, at about 6 weeks when I moved her and 3 others outside from their brooder, she and one other fell ill with Coccidiosis and she nearly died (the other one was a silkie and she did die). So
perhaps she is weak from that. Since then, she has been extremely
mellow, tame, and of course - the kids favorite.

I have a silkie rooster who started limping about a couple of months ago. Yes, months. I don't know what to do. I saw him limping one day and just thought that he must have jumped off a roost and, being a silkie, was unable to break his fall by flying. My mom didn't let me take him out of the coop for a couple of days, hoping he would get batter on his own. When he wasn't recovering, I finally moved him to a different pen. It's been a long, long time since and he still won't put pressure on his one leg. I felt around on his leg and found a swollen joint. The swelling hasn't gone down since the first day I noticed it There are no signs of Bumblefoot. He is very lively and his leg doesn't seem to be putting him in any kind of pain. I don't know what to do. My parents want to just put him out of his misery but I want that to be the last resort. Please, if anybody knows anything about what could help him, let me know.