Jersey Giant Rooster lame/clenched feet

[Danielle430]

First of all, I love this website and love it even more now that I have a flock of my own! I am a new chicken owner and am loving it so far! I have 10 Jersey Giants that are 5 months old and all are doing fine except one. I was on vacation and my mom contacted me to let me know one of my roosters was lame, he is a large splash rooster named Rockadoodle. He is walking around on his hocks. I had her isolate him and treat him for worms thinking that may be the problem but nothing changed.

I am since home and examined him myself to find no other physical symptoms besides that his toes are clenched together straight out which is not allowing him to walk normally on his feet, therefore, hobbling around on his hocks. He is isolated in my garden and has been enjoying my zucchinis, peas and blueberries. He is eating and drinking just fine. He is strong, alert and his comb is nice and bright. It has been very hot here off and on for a couple weeks but he is in a shaded area with plenty of water. He has been like this for 8 days now, due to my vacation. My local vet does not treat birds so I would have to drive a ways to get treatment but I would love to just treat him on my own if I knew what to do. I have had him on a probiotic and electrolyte for almost 3 days now, thinking that the heat may have caused his symptoms but no change so far. My only guess is a vitamin deficiency but I don't know what he is lacking, if that's the problem. I would appreciate any suggestions on what to try next. Thanks so much for your time!

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. Give him poultry vitamins that contain riboflavin (vitamin B 2) since curled toes and walking on hocks can be a sign of deficiency. The earlier it is treated, the better the chance of success of improvement.

 

[Eggcessive]

Vitamin B complex tablets, nutritional yeast, beef liver, yogurt or cottage cheese, mushrooms, and many other foods contain riboflavin.

 

[Danielle430]

Thank you so much for your response! I will get right on that. It has been a week so I hope he comes out of it ok. I wish I would've thought to post my question right away but I hadn't seen him for myself so I really couldn't say what his symptoms were.

 

[Danielle430]

So....it's been 12 days since I started my lame rooster on vitamins, mainly vitamin B. It has been approximately 20 days since he first became lame and it was a little over a week before I started trying the vitamin supplement. He is also getting cottage cheese and yogurt - I'm trying to get him as much vitamins as possible. His feet seem to be not clenched as much, but other than that, no improvement.

I was wondering if I maybe started the vitamins too late? Or maybe he just needs more time? How long does it normally take to come back from a vitamin deficiency? My husband thinks we need to just butcher him but I'm not going to give up on him yet - especially since he is in such good health otherwise. Any suggestions from experienced chicken owners greatly appreciated!