Hen had a bad leg....

[brettsgirl78]

I hAve a Delaware hen that we got with 4 others....she is now 4 months old but when we got her at 5 weeks old when I got her home I noticed she had a leg that seems almost twisted backwards or at least of to the side and he little claws are like closed. .....i called the people and they said it should get better, ( Me who believes them cause I knew nothing ) so ad I said she gets around fine and non of the other hens seem to pick on her much more then they do any others....she has one leg she favors . Lately she seems like the nuckle aRea whe she usually bends is more swollen and so we have been keeping her in with us but let her go out during the day so she can be with her friends and forage some but lately she has been laying down more and the one good leg is straight out in front of her....she has been sleeping alot. She is so sweet and so super friendly...she is my daughters hen she always comes to.my daughter when she calls her and liked to sit in out laps. Will she die from.this? Is there something I can do for her? Advice please?

 

[Eggcessive]

It could be that she had a vitamin deficiency, a bone deformity called varus/valgus deformity, or she could have some other neurological problem. Some of her symptoms now sound a little like possible Mareks disease, but can be consistent with riboflavin deficiency too. Here is some info on the bone deformities that are common in chickens, and some on Mareks disease:
http://www.agbiosecurity.ca/healthy...e/Valgus Varus Leg Deformities in Poultry.pdf
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/1051/leg-health-in-large-broilers/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq