Lame Guinea's

[Wayne]

Recently acquired 11 Keets, 9 were a week old and 2 were 2 weeks. Well, the 2 week old are both hopping on one leg and the 'knee joint' is swollen. Will these 2 make it in the grown up guinea world ? Is there anything I can do to help them, if it is necessary I will put them down, but I had rather not.

Thanks,

wayne

 

[zazouse]

Is it possible that they were bitten by ants? i know that will cause their feet to swell, seen it more than one time here.
You can usually tell by looking closely at the feet you may notice small bumps on the feet.
Just throwing that out their.
I bet they will be fine,as long as they are eating and drinking.

 

[zazouse]

 

[Wayne]

They are still taking eating and drinking, no sign of any bumps on the feet. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[PeepsCA]

Check to see if the tendons that run over the back of the hock/knee aren't slipping to one side or the other of the joint as the leg is bent... it's not that common for 2 wk olds to develop slipped tendons, but it's possible. You can usually feel and see the tendon move off the back of the hock if that's what's happening. And it can cause the joint to swell, it's painful. Odd that they both are doing the same thing. Slipped tendons are difficult to fix, especially in older keets, but if you think that's what's happening I can tell you how I'd try to fix the keets.

 

[Wayne]

I am trying to attach a picture showing the malformed hock....doesn't feel like any tendon problem, but I honestly do not know....this is my first experience with guinea keets.

 

[PeepsCA]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]That kind of does look like the tendon has slipped to the outside of the hock joint, but it's hard to tell[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Can you feel the tendon moving over the joint (to the outside) as you bend the leg? If you can, then I'd say slipped tendon... and what you can try is taking a thin strip of medical tape or duct tape, (really thin strip like 16th" wide) and wrap it around the middle of the hock joint (like you'd be wrapping around the point and the crook of your elbow). A thin strip will support the tendon but not hinder the use of the joint. Make sure you wrap in the opposite direction that the tendon is slipping, to keep a little extra pressure on the tendon to help hold it in place. You want to wrap tight enough to hold the tendon in place, but not too tight that you cut off circulation on the leg. It's hard to do, and I'm not sure it will be much help on an older keet, but still worth a try. Good luck.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Also it's a good idea to make sure they are in high protein starter feed.[/FONT]

 

[Wayne]

Peeps, thanks for your interest and help....When flexing the leg, I cannot feel any tendon movement at all. Should I still apply the tape ? The keets have been on Game Starter Feed from day one.

 

[PeepsCA]

If the tendons aren't slipping the tape isn't needed... but check your starter feed, make sure choline is included in the ingredients list. You may want to get some poultry vitamins (that include choline) and add them to everybody's water each day for a while and see if that helps, because it could just be caused by a nutrient deficiency. If it doesn't resolve itself, then it may be a genetic issue. And it'll be your call as to wether or not to put those keets down. More than likely it's a painful condition for them, and eventually the pain will effect them to the point that they stop thriving... and as the rest of the flock grows they may ostracize (reject) those 2 keets because the flock sees them as the weak links.

Sorry, wish I had better advice for you. Good luck with them.