3 week old overweight Cornish Rock - I believe has broken leg(s)

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For what it's worth, I have an aunt that purchased a trio of cornish cross, ignorantly sold to her by TSC as leghorns. My aunt was also ignorant and didn't know how to tell chicken breeds apart. Needless to say, she fed and kept them with a trio of production reds and as she free fed them all (which is generally not harmful to other breeds) they quickly put on weight as CornishX do, and two perished from heart failure, but not after suffering somewhat, unable to walk properly, etc.
The last cornishX, the family was very attached to. It was overweight and could not get around well, as expected with this poor breed, but they went to an avian specialist and she worked with them to save the bird. After surgery to help mend a damaged leg, and a careful diet, the bird DID lose some weight and can get around fairly well now. She has to be kept indoors and can not be a 'normal' chicken. They have her as a house pet and have to work with her to get her to move around. She seems content. She's a year and a half old now and does lay eggs.
Now, this is not about me agreeing or disagreeing with what my aunt did, but bear in mind; if you want to save her, you need help, and she'll be special needs. She'll probably never be able to be kept with the other birds, at least not if you free feed, and not if she is limited in mobility as they may well harm or even kill her over time. You might need to house her indoors with you as a house pet. Diet and ration are going to be big issues, there are others here that do it with cornish, if you search the forum (I am not knowledgeable enough to specify amounts, myself). Despite the help she might perish anyhow from organ failure. I'm very sad to say that they just are bred to put on as much meat as fast as possible and no one cares about longevity. If you can get her to a knowledgeable vet and get an honest opinion, so you know what is going on with her legs for sure, you might save her. Otherwise, she is probably suffering. Do what you feel is best, I am not trying to bully you into a decision, but carefully weigh all the facts when you do.

So I understand that she is only three weeks old? If her legs heal and you start now with careful diet, she will have a slightly better chance than an older cornishX.

Best wishes to you!
 
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heartsizedfarm said:
I'm ill advised to say this on a public forum but I've been nursing a seagull with a broken back for four months. First, dragging his legs, then staggering on crooked legs, now standing while flapping wings, and soon, hopefully, walking and flying normally. Hand feeding five times a day and giving rehabilitation space. Don't rat me out. If they have the will, they can heal.
Click to expand...

I believe you are right. Maybe you can share with me exactly what you have done for him? No one in my area would go through the trouble. I'm keeping her comfortable with Rymadil, it's made a huge difference and has been a real blessing to have that already in the house.

I appreciate the positive feedback :)
 
Young chick with legs problems so early means it will probably only get worse. You should be able to tell if her legs are broken, I you can't tell, you should have a vet look at her. If her femurs are broken her chances of healing are slim to none, IMO. And then there's the Rimadyl, that stuff is very hard on the kidneys evn when given at the proper dose.

-Kathy
 
Nambroth said:
For what it's worth, I have an aunt that purchased a trio of cornish cross, ignorantly sold to her by TSC as leghorns. My aunt was also ignorant and didn't know how to tell chicken breeds apart. Needless to say, she fed and kept them with a trio of production reds and as she free fed them all (which is generally not harmful to other breeds) they quickly put on weight as CornishX do, and two perished from heart failure, but not after suffering somewhat, unable to walk properly, etc.
The last cornishX, the family was very attached to. It was overweight and could not get around well, as expected with this poor breed, but they went to an avian specialist and she worked with them to save the bird. After surgery to help mend a damaged leg, and a careful diet, the bird DID lose some weight and can get around fairly well now. She has to be kept indoors and can not be a 'normal' chicken. They have her as a house pet and have to work with her to get her to move around. She seems content. She's a year and a half old now and does lay eggs.
Now, this is not about me agreeing or disagreeing with what my aunt did, but bear in mind; if you want to save her, you need help, and she'll be special needs. She'll probably never be able to be kept with the other birds, at least not if you free feed, and not if she is limited in mobility as they may well harm or even kill her over time. You might need to house her indoors with you as a house pet. Diet and ration are going to be big issues, there are others here that do it with cornish, if you search the forum (I am not knowledgeable enough to specify amounts, myself). Despite the help she might perish anyhow from organ failure. I'm very sad to say that they just are bred to put on as much meat as fast as possible and no one cares about longevity. If you can get her to a knowledgeable vet and get an honest opinion, so you know what is going on with her legs for sure, you might save her. Otherwise, she is probably suffering. Do what you feel is best, I am not trying to bully you into a decision, but carefully weigh all the facts when you do.

So I understand that she is only three weeks old? If her legs heal and you start now with careful diet, she will have a slightly better chance than an older cornishX.

Best wishes to you!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. I've read some folks have had overweight Cornish Rocks with serious leg issues, who isolated the birds, controlled their diet and weight (of course none included details of exactly how they did any of these things except) some wrapped their legs etc. Now they say those birds are a part of the flock, their legs are healthy and they are some of their best layers! Awesome! I wanna have one of these stories! I may need to take her to the vet but I truly feel that changing her diet (if you can get your aunt to tell you what the special diet was?) to slow or reduce her weight, rest, nutritional/vitamin/nutrient increase to make her bones stronger I think she has a great chance.

I was so excited when I brought these 6 home, because they were all strong and healthy. With our first 4 we got a Barred Rock (Babe) who was very sickly - which I didn't know until I opened their box at home. Babe got trampled by the others on the way home (this time I brought paper towels for the bottom of the box for traction, perfect) and would have been dead before we went to bed. I got online and BYC provided the most guidance and information, I knew NOTHING about chickens except that I love birds and wanted the experience of raising baby chicks, having chickens and collecting eggs on the way to our veggie garden. I gave her a sweet name because at times I wasn't so sure the would live, and I wanted her to know that we loved her.

I followed all of the advice on previous topics and that sickly little girl lived! It took a lot of dedication to make it happen, but even when she was too weak to fight I encouraged her to keep trying. I even slept with her in a red bandana around my neck at night because she couldn't regulate her own body temperature. She was left with a bit of mental frailty and restrictions but she is gentle, agreeable and most social with humans - she's the one being passed around from lap to lap when our friends come over for parties! She lived in our home for a month after being attacked by a hawk on 1/1/14. We took her to the vet, he cleaned her eye, which she nearly lost in the attack, then sent us home with best wishes, thank goodness we put in vinyl flooring 3 days before. She's partially blind in one eye now but she gets along very well outside.

Please let me know if your aunt can share details about her weight loss diet! That would be great!
 
You certainly seem to have the will to give it your best shot. But I agree with those that say its time to call in the vet to see if the legs are broken or just developmentally delayed, and to determine what course to follow after that. If it were a lamb with a bendy leg (I know, dawg53, the thread title doesn't say lamb!) we would use a cardboard tube and bandages to artificially straighten it and help the lamb get upright on it until it could straighten it and support itself on its own. The gull never had anything wrong with its wings, so it just fluttered around dragging its legs until it was strong enough to walk on its legs again. When an important racehorse like Barbaro breaks a leg (I know, dawg53, the title doesn't say racehorse either, ha!) they sling it until it heals, but I don't suppose that's practical for a chicken.
 
Interesting thread. Sorry to hear about your chick. I can totally understand you wanting to work with your chick so that it can continue on and have a healthy life. As previously stated, you will have to seek out professional/medical attention to see if the legs are broke or not. Once you have determined that, then you will be better equipped with the knowledge on how to proceed with your chick. If you find out that the legs are not broken, you can better care for her during the rehab process of getting her legs stronger so that she can walk.

Many years ago, my relative brought me some "white" chickens. He has no knowledge of chicken and had no idea what he was buying. He just wanted me to have some white chickens. So, when he brought the chickens to me, I noticed that they were kinda big and didn't look like regular chickens. Well, once I figured it out, I knew that he had bought me cornish chicks. Well, I did my research and found out all about them. :/ I didn't want to process them, so I researched on how to prolong their lives. Well lo and behold I didn't find anything on the internet about that, so I came up with my own plan and it worked.

My girls lived to be a little older 4 years old. I had 6 girls all together. Only have a pic of the 3 of them.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/551431/life-span-in-cornish-white-cross

The girls were dust bathing on this day.
1000


My girls were too big to fly on the roost. I sometimes would put them on the roosts, if at coop closing time, their eyes were sparkling with envy to get on the roost. I would lift them up and place them on the roost. I had to take them off and place them on the ground the next morning. Sometimes, they just chose to sleep on the ground in their chicken house. I made their ground sleeping arrangements as comfy as possible.

There are a few other people on this forum who have raised Cornish as pets and I am one of them. My girls had an excellent chicken life. Anyone who knows me know that my animals have 5 star status in terms of health, nutrition and living arrangements. I wouldn't have it any other way.

This is what I did that allowed them to live so long.
1. Do not overfeed. Give the same amount of feed that you would give your regular flock/per bird.
2. Free range as often as possible (daily if you can). Free ranging also promotes exercise. They have to walk and run to get those juicy bugs.
3. Place feeder several feet away from them, so that they have to walk (exercise) to get their food.
4. Feed healthy snacks (fruits & vegetables)
5. Make sure that their living arrangements are functional for their needs. Some cannot fly on roosts at night. They may have to sleep on the floor.
6. Do not place FEMALES with roosters. Roosters will try to mate with them. Their legs cannot take the extra rooster weight on them and neither can their stress level.

**If you feel that your bird is still hungry after eating her regular feed, feed her fruits and veggies. It's just like humans on a diet and we are still hungry after eating our meal. We fill up on healthy fruits and veggies. Find out what she likes and give that to her daily.

I can give this information because I have experience in raising Cornish as pets.

With her not being able to stand (not even to poop), you will have to clean her bottom area daily. If not, it will go bald and you will have another problem with skin issues and sores. You may even have to place a chicken diaper on her or make your own functional "outfit" for her so that her area is kept clean and dry.

A broken leg may look crooked and swollen, and the bird won’t walk on it. Broken legs can be splinted, but it’s best to let a vet or someone experienced in bird rehabilitation do this. In a young bird, the bones heal quickly. Once again, you should separate the bird from your flock until it has healed.
Click to expand...

Anyone that knows me knows that I will go above and beyond to "save" my animals. And I"m usually able to save them 98% of the time and they go on to live productive lives and have a great quality of life. Now, if an animal is obviously suffering, then I do put them down but that has only happened a few times in all of my years of raising animals. I exhaust all avenues in trying to save my animals. My motto is, "No losses on my shift."

Kathy (casportpony) is a BYC expert when it comes to meds, dosing, etc, etc etc, so I trust EVERYTHING she says and recommends. She is our mad scientist who knows her stuff. I would bring my animal to Kathy before I would bring it to a vet. So she is providing you expert info (in my opinion).

Here is a link where you can find all sorts of info on Poultry podiatry, pain killers, etc. Please take a minute to read.

https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry

I wish you good luck with your chick and I hope she pulls through.

Please keep us posted on her condition and what you decide to do.
 
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