Broken toe, possibly gout/arthritis in pullet

[Agarrabrant]

Hey everyone! I have a weird case that happened with one of my Splash Wyandottes, just need some input badly.
She is roughly 3- 4 months old, I got her from a breeder and noticed that she had no webbing between the 1st 2 toes on both feet, figured this might cause a problem later, but otherwise she was perfectly healthy. Recently, her toes on both feet have become extremely stiff from the pad to the middle joint, causing her to walk on her tip toes. Then, the 1st toe on her right leg bent under the middle toe, and no amount of wrap or splinting helped. I took her to the vet, found out she has a heart murmur, which due to her age is most likely congenital, but the vet wanted $400 to x-ray and splint. I love my girls but we can't pay that for a chicken. So we decided to amputate as the toe was causing her pain when she walked and showed no signs of healing. There is a little bone sticking out from where we cut on the joint, which I plan on banding slightly above today so that the bone dies and will cleanly come off.

I'd just really like to know what would be causing the stiffness in her joints at such a young age. None of my other chickens are displaying this, so I highly doubt it is anything to do with diet. Picture from before amputation posted so you all can see how she stands. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! I got a blue wyandotte from the same breeder and she has no problems.

 

[lbgreenfield]

Hi. I'm sorry no one has replied to your thread and I'm sorry you had to amputate her toe. It sounds like you made the correct decision and are doing the necessary things to prevent infection and promote healing. I hope she is doing well post-amputation, I'm sure that was very, very painful for her.

I don't have experience with this exact situation but I do have a barred rock hen that I'm pretty sure has gout/arthritis in her foot (although with no bent toes). It seems that for your hen, it may have been a genetic abnormality that caused her toe to be like that or possibly something occurred when she very, very young (injury, etc.). Since my arthritic hen is older (almost 4 years old), I've done supportive care by dosing her with aspirin when I notice she's having a harder time walking and I've also put in some HomeoPet drops in her water sometimes. I've even tried putting a very, very, very small amount of TigerBalm (menthol muscle rub) on her feet and she seems to like that too. I've seen others make slings for their chickens to help them rest and eat better.

I'd continue to monitor her amputation recovery and possibly start to think about supportive care for her with regard to her feet. Here are a few resources that might help you (it's for older chickens, but may still apply to your case):

http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/arthritis

https://opensanctuary.org/article/s...hickens/#managing-arthritis-in-older-chickens

Good luck, I hope she improves and lives a long, happy, chicken life

 

[Agarrabrant]

Hi. I'm sorry no one has replied to your thread and I'm sorry you had to amputate her toe. It sounds like you made the correct decision and are doing the necessary things to prevent infection and promote healing. I hope she is doing well post-amputation, I'm sure that was very, very painful for her.

I don't have experience with this exact situation but I do have a barred rock hen that I'm pretty sure has gout/arthritis in her foot (although with no bent toes). It seems that for your hen, it may have been a genetic abnormality that caused her toe to be like that or possibly something occurred when she very, very young (injury, etc.). Since my arthritic hen is older (almost 4 years old), I've done supportive care by dosing her with aspirin when I notice she's having a harder time walking and I've also put in some HomeoPet drops in her water sometimes. I've even tried putting a very, very, very small amount of TigerBalm (menthol muscle rub) on her feet and she seems to like that too. I've seen others make slings for their chickens to help them rest and eat better.

I'd continue to monitor her amputation recovery and possibly start to think about supportive care for her with regard to her feet. Here are a few resources that might help you (it's for older chickens, but may still apply to your case):

http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/arthritis

https://opensanctuary.org/article/s...hickens/#managing-arthritis-in-older-chickens

Good luck, I hope she improves and lives a long, happy, chicken life

Thank you for responding!! Yes amputation went fairly well. She has a bit of protruding bone, so I've banded the stump and the flesh has already died off, just waiting for that and the bone to drop. Otherwise she is running around and eating like crazy! Thanks for those resources, since it is both her feet that she is walking on just the toes I would think it is something congenital. But happy and healthy otherwise!