Lameness - 2 roos

[lurae]

I'm not sure if it's breeding injuries but both my Marans roos are mildly lame, some days worse than others. At first I thought that a couple of the feather shafts in one of the toes of Mukluk (roo #1) was causing him to gimp around, now I'm not so sure that's it. He walks like he had chinese military training, actually it's a riot to watch him strut his stuff. The other roo, Modelo, left front is off and appears to be more in his foot than upper leg. They are both big roos, all my chickens are Marans but the hens are 1/3 to 1/2 the size. Roos are not overly aggressive with their girls and the girls are pretty good at outrunning them. Guess I'm wondering if anyone else has a problem with their roos? Just seems weird that they are both gimpy.

 

[Diannastarr]

I'm not sure if it's breeding injuries but both my Marans roos are mildly lame, some days worse than others. At first I thought that a couple of the feather shafts in one of the toes of Mukluk (roo #1) was causing him to gimp around, now I'm not so sure that's it. He walks like he had chinese military training, actually it's a riot to watch him strut his stuff. The other roo, Modelo, left front is off and appears to be more in his foot than upper leg. They are both big roos, all my chickens are Marans but the hens are 1/3 to 1/2 the size. Roos are not overly aggressive with their girls and the girls are pretty good at outrunning them. Guess I'm wondering if anyone else has a problem with their roos? Just seems weird that they are both gimpy.

i lost my amazing splash Aussie roo it was truly horrible loosing him so quickly, this happened just a wile ago,in good weather & was such a shock , but later i found out he died from the large amount of calcium in the layer feed, but my boy was almost 5 years , since 5 years on layer feed will kill a roo, if his only food is layer feed, i am only saying this so others will know the layer feed can kill your roos , from kidney damage ,but your roos i feel are to young to be dying of that kind of kidney damage, im sorry im not of much help , but good luck to your roos may they recover and stay well & happy & live a good long life ...!!!!

 

[ChickNanny13]

lure - How old are your Roos? Are they eating/drinking? How's their poop?
Have you researched Mareks? It's also possible it's a vitamin deficiency, start them on Nutri Drench while you research possibilities.

Diannastarr - Sorry to hear about your Roos. When I first started raising chicks, I did what was told me; Chick Starter until 18wks then switch to Layer. It was a problem when you have several age groups, having learned that Layer/calcium's not good of the chicks. I have since learned (Thank You BYC Members) of Flock Raiser, All Flock, Multi-Puropose, etc... I chose to go with Flock Raiser (higher protein), so now I purchase a small bag of Chick Starter, at 6 - 8wks switch them over to FR. When they show signs of laying, I add a dish of Oyster Shells in their enclosure up higher. Working great.

 

[Diannastarr]

lure - How old are your Roos? Are they eating/drinking? How's their poop?
Have you researched Mareks? It's also possible it's a vitamin deficiency, start them on Nutri Drench while you research possibilities.

Diannastarr - Sorry to hear about your Roos. When I first started raising chicks, I did what was told me; Chick Starter until 18wks then switch to Layer. It was a problem when you have several age groups, having learned that Layer/calcium's not good of the chicks. I have since learned (Thank You BYC Members) of Flock Raiser, All Flock, Multi-Puropose, etc... I chose to go with Flock Raiser (higher protein), so now I purchase a small bag of Chick Starter, at 6 - 8wks switch them over to FR. When they show signs of laying, I add a dish of Oyster Shells in their enclosure up higher. Working great.

VERY GOOD the flock raiser is a good one to choose , i do mix a lot of different kinds of protein ,some fish some egg plus sprouted grains and fermented grains , so far so good..! but no more layer feed i also like you put the osyter shells in a dish for them to choose if need be, but the one interesting thing i found out after tossing out the layer feed is the once in a wile soft egg shells has stopped with the higher protein feed...! & my flock are all doing great all 75 of them all bright & shiny and my one other roo he is also 5 years old & i saved his life just in time when i tossed out the layer feed after finding his brother dead and now they all get my new home made food formula i mix every day the same feed that saved my blue roo who is coming onto 5 years old , he is now so much better and back to being very active out running around free ranging & being happy out with his happy hens ..!!

 

[lurae]

lure - How old are your Roos? Are they eating/drinking? How's their poop?
Have you researched Mareks? It's also possible it's a vitamin deficiency, start them on Nutri Drench while you research possibilities.

Diannastarr - Sorry to hear about your Roos. When I first started raising chicks, I did what was told me; Chick Starter until 18wks then switch to Layer. It was a problem when you have several age groups, having learned that Layer/calcium's not good of the chicks. I have since learned (Thank You BYC Members) of Flock Raiser, All Flock, Multi-Puropose, etc... I chose to go with Flock Raiser (higher protein), so now I purchase a small bag of Chick Starter, at 6 - 8wks switch them over to FR. When they show signs of laying, I add a dish of Oyster Shells in their enclosure up higher. Working great.

i lost my amazing splash Aussie roo it was truly horrible loosing him so quickly, this happened just a wile ago,in good weather & was such a shock , but later i found out he died from the large amount of calcium in the layer feed, but my boy was almost 5 years , since 5 years on layer feed will kill a roo, if his only food is layer feed, i am only saying this so others will know the layer feed can kill your roos , from kidney damage ,but your roos i feel are to young to be dying of that kind of kidney damage, im sorry im not of much help , but good luck to your roos may they recover and stay well & happy & live a good long life ...!!!!

They are not sick at all, eating/drinking fine, poop is normal, I see no abnormalities with the exception of the lameness and it is not severe in the least. Both roos are from the same March of 17' hatch. They are all free range, organic fed. I feed soy/corn free scratch and layer pellets along with their daily intake of whatever bugs they drum up. I don't have an option of shutting them up or separating them. I do not medicate. Thanks for your input!

 

[ChickNanny13]

Nutri Drench is vitamin/electrolytes It could be a vitamin deficiency (Riboflavin/Vitamin B2) so feed them some foods as treats; beef liver, spinach, mushrooms, boiled egg yolk, etc...

 

[Diannastarr]

lure - How old are your Roos? Are they eating/drinking? How's their poop?
Have you researched Mareks? It's also possible it's a vitamin deficiency, start them on Nutri Drench while you research possibilities.

Diannastarr - Sorry to hear about your Roos. When I first started raising chicks, I did what was told me; Chick Starter until 18wks then switch to Layer. It was a problem when you have several age groups, having learned that Layer/calcium's not good of the chicks. I have since learned (Thank You BYC Members) of Flock Raiser, All Flock, Multi-Puropose, etc... I chose to go with Flock Raiser (higher protein), so now I purchase a small bag of Chick Starter, at 6 - 8wks switch them over to FR. When they show signs of laying, I add a dish of Oyster Shells in their enclosure up higher. Working great.

 

[Lolacan]

Do they seem to get better or worse?

 

[NikAndHerChicks]

I'm only mentioning this because you said that it seems like it's your one roos foot, but did you happen to check the bottoms of their feet for bumble foot? I know it can be more prevalent in heavier birds because of the stress the extra weight can put on their feet.