Is the leg broken / dislocated? Or is it the hip?

[MoosePijamas]

This is Evelina. She is 3 months old and vaccinated against Marek’s. I noticed she was limping yesterday. She is favoring her right leg and walking on the shank and hock instead of putting weight on it. I gave her a warm epsom salt bath. Figured it would be a slipped tendon but I don’t feel the movement I should technically feel. I don’t think it’s broken because I don’t see any obvious broken bones. My next worry is somehow she dislocated her hip. all the vets are closed but I’ll be calling tomorrow. For now I have her in the chicken hospital but was wondering if Anyone had seen this before.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Just because she's vaccinated for mareks doesn't mean she still can't get it unfortunately. It's always a possibly. I would try some oral poultry vitamins in case it's a deficiency. @Eggcessive hopefully can help with the exact kind.

 

[MoosePijamas]

Yeah it’s my understanding that the vaccination doesn’t protect against all the strains.

 

[Eggcessive]

Be sure to try some vitamins with riboflavin (B2.) Poultry NutriDrench does not have it. An inexpensive human vitamin B complex tablet 1/4-1/2 daily crushed on food or in a little water would be enough. If you could see a vet for an xray, that also would be good. I hope that she recovers, and that it doesn’t turn out to be Mareks.

 

[MoosePijamas]

Be sure to try some vitamins with riboflavin (B2.) Poultry NutriDrench does not have it. An inexpensive human vitamin B complex tablet 1/4-1/2 daily crushed on food or in a little water would be enough. If you could see a vet for an xray, that also would be good. I hope that she recovers, and that it doesn’t turn out to be Mareks.

Will do! I’d like to do everything possible for her while I wait for the vet to call me back with an appointment. Only one vet sees chickens in the area and vet appointments are hard to come by.

 

[Eggcessive]

Let us know what the vet has to say.

 

[MoosePijamas]

Let us know what the vet has to say.

Vet said that it’s splayed leg. We bandaged her legs together and I’m supposed to go back in a week to see if that helped. She said that she has a low chance of ever walking again. :-( but I figured it was worth a try!

 

[mandymcg05]

I hope your baby is healing. Sending good vibes your way

 

[Eggcessive]

Splay leg occurs at hatch. I don’t think it is that, but I am not a vet. Is the vet very experienced with chickens? Slipped tendon or a leg bone deformity in one or both legs are the usual lag issues in youngs chicks, and splay leg usually loooks this way:
https://blog.meyerhatchery.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Photo-Aug-26-9-41-30-AM-1-1.jpg

But at her age, if this has developed recently, I would suspect either Mareks or a leg injury.

 

[MoosePijamas]

Splay leg occurs at hatch. I don’t think it is that, but I am not a vet. Is the vet very experienced with chickens? Slipped tendon or a leg bone deformity in one or both legs are the usual lag issues in youngs chicks, and splay leg usually loooks this way:
https://blog.meyerhatchery.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Photo-Aug-26-9-41-30-AM-1-1.jpg

But at her age, if this has developed recently, I would suspect either Mareks or a leg injury.

She says she’s experienced but I have also never heard of splayed leg at this age. I know that if she’s vaccinated, she’s going to test positive for it if I have her tested. I’m at a loss because a second opinion vet is over an hour away. Im honestly at a loss.