Broken leg or slipped tendon?

[Pine Hill Farms]

I have a three-week-old chick I watched get mowed over by one of his little buddies. Her leg was sticking out to the side at hock joint looked like slipped tendon. I could not get the tendon put back in place until a day and a half later when the swelling went down. It's almost 2 weeks later we had it wrapped well with a little brace and it looked like it was growing straight. Yesterday when I went to check I took the brace off in the leg looks crooked again. Could this have been a break and not just a slip tendon? We have no Vet anywhere in this area that will see a chicken. Should I just keep wrapping it up straight in hopes that it will heal that way and get strong? We do physical therapy several times a day also. Thoughts???

 

[Pine Hill Farms]

Having troubles getting some pictures on here I will keep trying

 

[Pine Hill Farms]

 

[Eggcessive]

Fix Slipped Achilles Tendon in Hock Joint from Poultry Pedia Podiatry

• Use to treat Slipped Achilles Tendon (tendon that runs down through the groove on the back of a chick's hock has slipped out of place off to the side). If a leg has this problem, the joint will look swollen and the back of the hock will look flat (Compare to other leg to double-check). The chick can't straighten its leg if this is what's wrong with it.
• Gently pull the upper part of chick's leg a bit behind normal position and then carefully straighten the leg as though chick were stretching its leg back. The tendon should pop back into place pretty easily and cause little if any pain.
  • Some sources recommend pushing the tendon back in place just by pressing with your finger. However, stretching the leg back is a much less painful method.
• Swelling on hock:
  • If infection is part of what is causing joint to swell, you will find pus. Recovery would be very difficult and the chick should probably be put down.
  • If it is just caused by displacement, swelling will go down in 2-4 days.
• Put the chick in a Chick Chair and/or put its leg in a cast (such as one made from a drinking straw) for a few days (~5) while re-alignment stabilizes.
  • It is important that the legs not be able to touch the ground at all. The chick needs to hang with them bent and be discouraged from using its legs until the tendon has stretched and adjusted back to the right place and shape.
• Note: It may take a few days for the groove to be fully developed on a young chick and you may have to fix the tendon more than once.
• If there is pus in the joint,
• [More info needed.]

I would use poultry vitamins in the waterer a product called Poultry Cell from Rooster Booster that contains vitamins plus trace minerals. Here are some links to read:
http://www.jefferspet.com/images/label/0026690.htm
file:///C:/Users/david/Downloads/ross%20tech%20leg%20(3).pdf
http://www.poultryhub.org/health/disease/types-of-disease/leg-and-skeletal-problems/
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/6/diseases-of-poultry/220/slipped-tendon-perosis

 

[Pine Hill Farms]

Thanks for the info, I did see most of the same info when I looked into it. Her leg sticks out more to the side, and she does put weight on it. It's not like the pic of the chicks with leg stuck backwards. Can there be a break in the joint? It was an injury that I watched happen,so I don't think she is deficient in anything,but I have been doing a supplement to help anyway. She got mowed over, by a tiny chick 1/3 her size. She was up against the wall,he came under her and basically bounced off her leg! I wasn't sure if it was the tendon, a break or both,seemed like a day after I could move that tendon into place, but it wouldn't stay. I'm wondering if it was a slipped tendon due to the pressure and fracture? Is that possible? I have had chickens a long time but never dealt with this area of the leg injured. Thanks for your help!

 

[Eggcessive]

" is most often caused by injuries received when other chicks pile upon it or when the chick is placed on slick flooring soon after hatching." This quote is from the Poultry Hub link above. Here are more links including videos:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/756556/slipped-tendon-splayed-leg-confused

 

[RoosterWhisperer]

Fix Slipped Achilles Tendon in Hock Joint from Poultry Pedia Podiatry

• Use to treat Slipped Achilles Tendon (tendon that runs down through the groove on the back of a chick's hock has slipped out of place off to the side). If a leg has this problem, the joint will look swollen and the back of the hock will look flat (Compare to other leg to double-check). The chick can't straighten its leg if this is what's wrong with it.
• Gently pull the upper part of chick's leg a bit behind normal position and then carefully straighten the leg as though chick were stretching its leg back. The tendon should pop back into place pretty easily and cause little if any pain.
  • Some sources recommend pushing the tendon back in place just by pressing with your finger. However, stretching the leg back is a much less painful method.
• Swelling on hock:
  • If infection is part of what is causing joint to swell, you will find pus. Recovery would be very difficult and the chick should probably be put down.
  • If it is just caused by displacement, swelling will go down in 2-4 days.
• Put the chick in a Chick Chair and/or put its leg in a cast (such as one made from a drinking straw) for a few days (~5) while re-alignment stabilizes.
  • It is important that the legs not be able to touch the ground at all. The chick needs to hang with them bent and be discouraged from using its legs until the tendon has stretched and adjusted back to the right place and shape.
• Note: It may take a few days for the groove to be fully developed on a young chick and you may have to fix the tendon more than once.
• If there is pus in the joint,
• [More info needed.]

I would use poultry vitamins in the waterer a product called Poultry Cell from Rooster Booster that contains vitamins plus trace minerals. Here are some links to read:
http://www.jefferspet.com/images/label/0026690.htm
file:///C:/Users/david/Downloads/ross%20tech%20leg%20(3).pdf
http://www.poultryhub.org/health/disease/types-of-disease/leg-and-skeletal-problems/
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/6/diseases-of-poultry/220/slipped-tendon-perosis

Alright, I know this is old.......
But what if it was an adult chicken. Would the pull back method work? I don't want to hear the words "put down" used please.
I rescued this rooster when he was young, and I have even had top Orthotics (physical therapists), try to make a fitting leg brace. Nothing has worked so far. Is it a broken leg or the slipped tendon thing.
Chrom (adult rooster)

Any help is greatly and deeply appreciated, thank you.

 

[JayQ]

Mine in 6 weeks old and have similar conditions. though she totally can’t put weight on bintb legs

 

[Dlighting]

Alright, I know this is old.......
But what if it was an adult chicken. Would the pull back method work? I don't want to hear the words "put down" used please.
I rescued this rooster when he was young, and I have even had top Orthotics (physical therapists), try to make a fitting leg brace. Nothing has worked so far. Is it a broken leg or the slipped tendon thing.
Chrom (adult rooster)
View attachment 2701341View attachment 2701342
Any help is greatly and deeply appreciated, thank you.

I have a similar issue. My roo is a big white orpington, not yet a year. I was told it is a dislocated or ruptured gastrocnemius ligament. This is why the foot is turning out, this ligament keeps the stability of the hock (?) joint and keeps the foot straight. I gently pull the leg back and I can feel, what I would equate to a knee cap, go back in place and his foot straightens out. However it won't stay. I've been stretching the leg gently down and keeping him in a sling for an hour or two to see if it will heal but not looking good. Vet wants me to put him down, but I'm not ready to give up. He has now been "standing" on his foot and the hock, but this is not viable long-term. He will get sores and such. I can make him a wheelchair but I have no place for him to wheel or be a house chicken and I've had no luck finding a rescue. So now I'm looking at 3D printed leg braces & prosthetics. Something to support him when he's on his "knee" so it's more like a full leg. The lower part of his leg/foot is fine. Flexes, grabs, moves. Surgery is possible, but expensive and not always successful due to difficulty in rehabbing. So I'm leaning towards prosthetic. Any suggestions or similar experience, I'm open to.

 

[Eggcessive]

This is a very old thread and you may not get many answers unless you start a new thread of your own. Pictures may help. Cut and paste your post and start a new thread here by clicking the green box:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/emergencies-diseases-injuries-and-cures.10/
Leg bone deformities are usually not fixable. The most common ones are varus or valgus deformities, and then twisted tibias. Some birds can get along with their disability well enough to get food and water. Splinting and treatments attempted later may sometimes cause more problems, especially if circulation is cut off. Here is a good article about common leg deformities with good pictures:
https://www.researchgate.net/profil...hZCIsInByZXZpb3VzUGFnZSI6InB1YmxpY2F0aW9uIn19