Back is deformed

[Ncfarm828]

I just got back from a week long vacation and noticed that one of my young roosters has started to look hunched in his back. He seemed perfectly fine before I left, and he’s the only one showing this. Does anyone have any thoughts on what could be going on? Seems to be eating and drinking fine.

 

[MysteryChicken]

I just got back from a week long vacation and noticed that one of my young roosters has started to look hunched in his back. He seemed perfectly fine before I left, and he’s the only one showing this. Does anyone have any thoughts on what could be going on? Seems to be eating and drinking fine.

He seems to have scoliosis. I've got a Malay stag with a pretty bad case of it, & need to put him down. It's gotten to the point of compressing one lung. I'll be saving his meat.

 

[Ncfarm828]

He seems to have scoliosis. I've got a Malay stag with a pretty bad case of it, & need to put him down. It's gotten to the point of compressing one lung. I'll be saving his meat.

What’s weird is this just became apparent in the last week. I had moved this flock into a new run, I picked them all up to move them and nothing was abnormal.

 

[MysteryChicken]

What’s weird is this just became apparent in the last week. I had moved this flock into a new run, I picked them all up to move them and nothing was abnormal.

The condition can progress super slowly sometimes. I had 2 with scoliosis last year, or the year before, & one this year. So it's variable.
They can live with it, but it makes certain things harder for them, like breeding, & laying eggs sometimes.

 

[Eggcessive]

Many oldtimers call a crooked spine kinky back or roach back. Spondylopathy is the technical term. There can be birth defects, especially in meat birds, that cause scoliosis and lordosis, and there can be bacterial infection that cause osteomyelitis. Too rapid growth in some may result in this. As these progress there can be paralysis of the legs or wings. Some may end up lying on their sides. Most people don’t get necropsies on their chickens which are available from state vet pathologists, but that is a way of confirming a diagnosis. Here is some reading about these spinal deformities:
https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poul...gular-(Valgus/Varus)-Leg-Deformities_v3343383

https://www.poultryworld.net/topic/kinky-back-spondylolisthesis/

https://poultrydvm.com/condition/vertebral-osteomyelitis