A crooked leg and not roosting.

[amib]

Hello all,
I am completely new to raising chickens. I have three 6 week old rhode island reds (one is a rooster) and one 6 week old barred Plymouth rock. They have all been moved into the coop along with 6 guinea keets that are also 6 weeks old. I noticed a couple of days ago that Gatsby, one of the reds, has one leg that seems twisted. She walks on it and it doesn't seem to bother her, but at the joint it bends inward, causing her foot to not be directly under her. She is the smallest of the chickens and her head is not quite fully feathered, but she seems to be developing, just at a slower pace. My question is, if I take her to the vet, will they be able to splint her leg? I'm worried that it may get worse over time if it's not corrected. Also, the rooster and other girls are roosting already (they have been in the coop for 7 days now) but Gasby is sleeping in a pile with the guinea keets. I'm not sure if she's doing that because of her leg, or if she just prefers the tight heated huddle with the keets since she is a bit smaller than the others. Any suggestions would be great!
Thank you!

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. Unfortunately, there are some leg bone deformities that are not treatable, and some may worsen with age sometimes causing tendons to rupture especially in the hock. Slipped achilles tendon only sometimes can be treated as a day old chick, but rotated tibia or dyschondroplasia can't be treated. These problems are more common in meat birds, but can still occur in layers.
Having said that, it is important to try and figure out the problem, and attempt to treat it. A good poultry vitamin with trace minerals would be good to give, since some of these problems may be due to vitamin or mineral deficiency. Riboflavin deficency or rickets can be treated.
Here are some links to read:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/756556/slipped-tendon-splayed-leg-confused
http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/pou..._poultry/vitamin_deficiencies_in_poultry.html
http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/content/79/7/982.full.pdf
https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry