bantam Cochins slipped tendons?

[WestKnollAmy]

Has anyone had any problems with their bantam Cochins having slipped tendons or ligiments in the legs?

I have had a few this year to grow up and then get lame or disfunctional. Not Marecks nor any other disease and X-rays show no bone problems but they get to where they can't stand for any length of time and have to sit down most of the time. I have culled but also kept some to see if anything may help improve quality of life. I have one last one that is 8 months old and she has been like this for 3 months. No improvement so we are going to put her down.

They are fine until about 2 or 3 months old and then do this. They never get so bad they can't walk but they just can't walk far, of course or even manuever where they need to go sometimes. This one pullet gets so frustrated and I am tired of seeing her this way. It is no kind of life for a beauty to have to live.

They all have eaten and drank fine, never slowed down there. But those ligiments or tendons seem to go out on them.

My whites and mottleds have never done this but my crossing colors has produced this. Of course, out of the several hundred I have bred I have only had 4 to be this way.

And the vets around here really don't care to get into too much without big bucks and I just can't fork over that much on investigating the causes or reasons.

Thanks for any input.

 

[pennie1]

Can you post some pics? They are always helpful.

 

[ShysCreations]

Nadine, I've not seen this in bantam cochins & fortunately you're not seeing it in ALOT of birds. I wonder if there's some vitamin or nutrient missing in the feed? Or could they be getting into some poison or chemical? I can tell you're having a heck of a time narrowing down the cause! One would think putting unrelated whites & mottled together wouldn't cause issues...I do wish you luck!

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Thanks for the answer.

Posting photos would not help since the birds are sitting most of the time. What would I photo? The legs look normal and it is only the trouble with walking that is the problem. Video I would do if I could but I do not have the technical capabilities to put video on You Tube. But even then I do not believe it would help. I just wondered if others had had this problem.

I do not think vitamin deficiency because these kids are raised with flocks of same age hatchlings. I hatch MFC project chicks almost every week and only these few have shown this.
Can't be poison either since they are raised in brooder tubs and are not put out into a pen until they are a few months old. Mine do not free range unless they are just extra roos. All these that have shown this are raised in different brooders and have been put into different pens.
And only my bantam cochins have had this happen. Not my Silkies, Sizzles, Frizzles, Silchins or the other 10 breeds i have going right now that I hatch from.

My vet friend says it probably just happens in these birds same as a luxated patellas in some dogs. I have not bred these affected birds, of course but also do not want to breed this problem into a bloodline so I have culled birds (placed in pet homes) that produced this.

I just thought it odd and wondered if any other bantam Cochin breeders had experienced it.

Thanks again for the ideas.