- Aug 18, 2016
- 27
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Hello,
I have a white sultan rooster who is now about 3.5 months old with a pretty deformed leg. I previously posted questions about his weird foot when he was a chick here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chick-with-foot-deformity-or-tumor.1478244/
Back then he only hopped around a little and walked normally even though one of his pinky toes didnt bend and looked like it had no control. He is now grown up and his whole leg has become deformed. From a quick search it looks something like valgus deformity, the leg bone bends outwards starting from the knee, so he drags that leg around and it constantly slips outwards. The coop he lives in has hay scattered around for flooring and I try to help him into a nest box at night, but he still has issues getting a grip on the ground and standing/sitting down properly inside a box. He is basically unable to control the deformed leg and toes, so roosting is not an option for him.
Here are some pictures that show his condition:
Visible in the second picture above are some leg braces made of hair ties that sort of shackle his leg, because without those his legs slip apart and does a complete split. He lives in a closed coop and run so there are no concerns of having to escape predators.
Normal leg vs Deformed leg, the foot feathers seemed to have all fallen or have been scraped off as he drags that leg around and puts pressure and friction on the side. The feather follicles turned into something like warts or maybe bumble foot looking stuff (mostly feels like firm flesh, not liquid).
Since he drags that leg on the ground and it seems to hurt by scraping his skin and feathers, I have tried putting a gauze wrap around the knee to ankle section as a barrier to reduce scraping, but it quickly gets dirty and could breed bacteria so I eventually removed it.
Example video of him walking, he does a short flight when traveling longer distance and his leg constantly slips to the side when standing.
The leg looks like a permanent deformation unless surgery is involved, so if anyone has suggestions on how to help him feel or navigate around better that would really be appreciated. I have no intention of culling him as he is the sweetest chicken we have and kept as a pet. Turning him into an indoor chicken could be a possibility, but I have next to no knowledge of how that's done, or how he would be able to walk on flooring if he already has slipping issues on dirt and grass. Thanks!
I have a white sultan rooster who is now about 3.5 months old with a pretty deformed leg. I previously posted questions about his weird foot when he was a chick here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chick-with-foot-deformity-or-tumor.1478244/
Back then he only hopped around a little and walked normally even though one of his pinky toes didnt bend and looked like it had no control. He is now grown up and his whole leg has become deformed. From a quick search it looks something like valgus deformity, the leg bone bends outwards starting from the knee, so he drags that leg around and it constantly slips outwards. The coop he lives in has hay scattered around for flooring and I try to help him into a nest box at night, but he still has issues getting a grip on the ground and standing/sitting down properly inside a box. He is basically unable to control the deformed leg and toes, so roosting is not an option for him.
Here are some pictures that show his condition:
Visible in the second picture above are some leg braces made of hair ties that sort of shackle his leg, because without those his legs slip apart and does a complete split. He lives in a closed coop and run so there are no concerns of having to escape predators.
Normal leg vs Deformed leg, the foot feathers seemed to have all fallen or have been scraped off as he drags that leg around and puts pressure and friction on the side. The feather follicles turned into something like warts or maybe bumble foot looking stuff (mostly feels like firm flesh, not liquid).
Since he drags that leg on the ground and it seems to hurt by scraping his skin and feathers, I have tried putting a gauze wrap around the knee to ankle section as a barrier to reduce scraping, but it quickly gets dirty and could breed bacteria so I eventually removed it.
Example video of him walking, he does a short flight when traveling longer distance and his leg constantly slips to the side when standing.
The leg looks like a permanent deformation unless surgery is involved, so if anyone has suggestions on how to help him feel or navigate around better that would really be appreciated. I have no intention of culling him as he is the sweetest chicken we have and kept as a pet. Turning him into an indoor chicken could be a possibility, but I have next to no knowledge of how that's done, or how he would be able to walk on flooring if he already has slipping issues on dirt and grass. Thanks!
