Chick with bad leg-Please Help!

[Arora]

I am relatively new to chickens. We got some baby chicks a few months ago. A few weeks ago, we noticed that one of the barred rocks had a bad leg- She was not putting any weight on it, mostly holding it forward and was not moving around much. We assumed it was broken and hoped that it would heal. She is eating better than she had been and looks brighter but still is very lame and doesnt move around much. She is so much smaller than the other ones now.

Well, today I noticed when examining her that where her leg meets her body, (I guess that would be the hip joint) the bad side has a very large bony area, easily felt, whereas her good side and the other chickens have very little there, the leg just goes into the body very smoothly. So I wonder if maybe it was dislocated and calcified? Does anyone have any ideas? Also, can chickens get around ok as adults without much use of one leg? We would be sad to put her down but dont want to see her suffer.

Any advice is much appreciated, thanks!

 

[Shanay235]

Sorry your chickie has a hurt leg. I don't have chickens but I do raise ducks and from what you're describing yes, it sounds like the leg is dislocated. As long as it's not a slipped tendon causing the problem, a vet may be able to manipulate it back in to the joint fairly easily. I wouldn't advise letting her stay like that though. It would put too much stress on her good leg and trying to roost, land, or support the weight of a rooster on her back could cause more damage to either leg.

 

[chickabator]

I have no clue on what to tell you maybe someone with more experiance will answer shortly oh and