Complex health concerns regarding an enlarged hip and abnormal development

[Magpie2]

Has anyone ever seen a lump like this?

I noticed that one hip was more prominent when this bird was little but I didn’t think it was anything serious but now I’m worried by how big it seems to be getting. It’s definitely the source of their wry tail and it does seem to affect how they walk, run, and sit but they don’t mind it being touched so it’s not painful, just awkward. There’s a part of me that’s really concerned it could be something serious and potentially life threatening but a vet visit is around $200 and another 250 for X-rays.
There is a hard lump under the feathers.

This chick was an assisted hatch if that’s relevant (just very late to hatch and I was sleep deprived, probably would have hatched on their own) I have pictures and videos of what I did with the assisted hatch if anyone thinks that could be the cause of the hip issue, I can share more of those.

Another thing about this bird is that they never showed any signs of being a male until very recently, they have three brothers who were very easy to sex very early on, behaviourally and visually, but this one hasn’t shown any secondary sex characteristics until starting to get their adult feathers (small comb, small spur scales, no baby crows). I’ve heard of cases where hens have seemingly transformed into males and it turned out to be because something was messing with their ovaries, I’m worried that it could be a tumour or something messing with the hip and the ovary potentially. If they are a boy then that’s fine, I just want them to be healthy.

This bird’s comb today. 15 weeks old.

Their half brothers (top and bottom) and cousin (middle) from ten days ago with combs visible. They’re all mottled Houdan crosses on their mothers side, the top brother is a Spitzhauben cross and the bottom brother and cousin are Svart Höna crosses.
The bird I’m worried about has a cream Brabanter father, both of their parents were hand raised together so I can directly compare development at different ages.

Dad at 14 weeks

Dad at 19 weeks


What do you guys think?


Side tangent:

I do know of a place where I could get them DNA sexed for $30 and I’m considering that. This is just for my own curiosity because I just can’t seem to explain the male feathers coming in but does anyone know if those DNA tests can see if a bird is a triploid (three sex chromosomes) or a chimera? This particular bird’s mom grew spurs and the mom’s sister acts like a rooster and has even mounted other hens despite both laying fertile eggs. I’ve read that triploids can come from a particular grandparent so I figured it could maybe explain the mom and aunt’s weirdness and the late feather development potentially. Plus if the test comes back saying regular female then there’s definitely something up with those feathers and it could indicate that something is wrong.

 

[Poultry Showman]

It may just be that they are abnormal. That is really strange though! I can't think of anything to do about this other than to keep a close eye on them and if anything seems off to keep posting pictures. Really good picture of father by the way You could enter that in a BYC caption contest!

 

[Logar]

I’ve heard of cases where hens have seemingly transformed into males and it turned out to be because something was messing with their ovaries, I’m worried that it could be a tumour or something messing with the hip and the ovary potentially

That bird is a male. No need to worry about it being a ovary issue.

If I had to guess I would say it is a deformity it has had since hatch but him growing has just made it more prominent. Just keep a close eye on it. I would keep it away from other males as they may gang up on him due to being weaker and slower.

 

[LaFleche]

Looks like a male to me.
I assume that the malformed/dislocated hip is causing him pain and he therefore was/is not as successful in hunting for insects as the brothers are, which results in slower development.
A few years back I acquired hatching eggs from a well renowned breeder, only one chick hatched with a similar malformation as yours.
It was a pullet, but as she slowly started to grow and gain weight, her issues got worse, so I had to put her out of her misery when she was no longer able to follow her flock and was mostly on the ground relaxing the bad hip.

 

[Magpie2]

That bird is a male. No need to worry about it being a ovary issue.

If I had to guess I would say it is a deformity it has had since hatch but him growing has just made it more prominent. Just keep a close eye on it. I would keep it away from other males as they may gang up on him due to being weaker and slower.

Looks like a male to me.
I assume that the malformed/dislocated hip is causing him pain and he therefore was/is not as successful in hunting for insects as the brothers are, which results in slower development.
A few years back I acquired hatching eggs from a well renowned breeder, only one chick hatched with a similar malformation as yours.
It was a pullet, but as she slowly started to grow and gain weight, her issues got worse, so I had to put her out of her misery when she was no longer able to follow her flock and was mostly on the ground relaxing the bad hip.

A little extra information, despite having siblings from the same hatch, they were not raised together so there was no competition between them. This little one was rejected by the foster mom because she likes to pick at any foreign object on her babies and this baby had umbilical gunk for a week, they hated each other after that week so I am mom and they had one companion bird for when I wasn’t around.

This is Uncle Stevie. He was born with a very severe hip deformity and almost starved before I got him back from the lady who hatched him (she hatched eggs from my birds so I felt responsible for the little guy). He has a male sibling of the same age (hatched on the eclipse!) so I can compare his growth. Stevie has been a perfect little guy aside from his mobility issues, even grabbing hens to try and mate but still unable to get on top. He got scolded by a hen who actually squatted for him when he didn’t finish the job

His leg was severely twisted as a chick but I was able to correct it to the point where he can walk and run but with a severe limp. I’m working on a jolly jumper of sorts for him to take some weight off of his good leg as he’s developing some bad habits with how he holds himself.

This is the clearest picture I have of his hip. It sticks out to the side and doesn’t really bend. The leg on that side is also smaller in addition to not being able to extend fully.

All that is to say, their setup was very much tailored for a small bird with a malformed hip, everything very low to the ground and such. I also was periodically hand feeding them both a chick feed mash until I was sure they were both eating enough on their own.

They are not related at all but Stevie’s eldest sister is the foster mother who raised the other siblings hence “uncle” or “bruncle” because these two are basically siblings now.

A big reason why I brought up triploids is because I read that they can have abnormal development and tend to be smaller but I couldn’t find much more information than that. This bird is actually smaller than their female cousins from the same hatch despite their father being a very fast growing breed and very easy to sex early on.

I’m thinking maybe chimera partially because the saddle feathers seem to be all on the same side as the abnormal hip, but again, there’s not enough information about it online so all I know is that chimeras can have two sets of DNA and can display traits from both (different colours, male and female traits, etc). I don’t know if they can be bigger on one side or something.

I really appreciate that no one seems to think that this is anything too concerning like a tumour.
And these two don’t really get along well with the other birds and Stevie physically wouldn’t be able to live in a coop so they’ll always be welcome in my home as pets regardless of their issues. Stevie might even be able to raise chicks again since he did such a good job already