Leg twisted 170 degrees?

[Chrifister]

It's a batch of 4 turkey poults that are 6 days old. They hatched with some other chicks. They all seemed to be doing fine, everyone looked okay although I haven't closely examined all of them yet. Today my father notices one of the turkey poults seemed to have his leg stretched out behind him at an odd angle and it didn't look right. I told him they often stretch when laying down. Well this is not stretching. His lower leg is turned almost 170 degrees pointing almost straight behind him.

It looks like the hock is a bit bigger than the other one, so definitely swollen. We did some research and at first thought it might be slipped tendon but it doesn't seem to be, although I'm no expert. When trying to put the leg back pointing forward, there is increasing resistance when you get about 20 degrees from straight ahead. When you let go it twists out to about 60-70 degrees on its own. He is very lively and is still crawling around getting food and water, then back under the lamp to sleep. When moving he can move the leg far forward, like diagonal out forward and to the right, and then use it to push forward. I assume he won't be able to do that when he's bigger and heavier.

Is it an injury? I don't think it could be a deficiency in feed. We are feeding the proper turkey starter, the only turkey starter anybody can get here. I also add that electrolyte solution to their water. I'm sure we would have noticed a leg pointing backwards in the last 6 days, with multiple people checking in on them many tens of times a day. It had to have happened today.

We tried to hatch a lot of eggs this year and these Red Bourbons have been giving us the most trouble. We've only successfully hatched...I think 13 out of near 120 eggs or more, and I had to cull 3 of those because of mental deficiency. We acquired 18 eggs last year and I hatched out 12 of them. We kept 4 of those for breeding stock. Is it something to do with the parents?

This last batch had 17 turkey eggs make it to lockdown but only 4 hatched on their own. We helped out 1 but had to cull it later due to mental deficiency. There were 7 that died while unzipping, something that I haven't seen before. Now of the 4 that survived, one has an issue with his leg.

 

[R2elk]

Your description of the leg sounds like slipped tendon. You have to move the tendon back into place while the leg is completely straight. Trying to position while the leg is bent will result in failure. Once you get it into place, you will have to secure it in place.

Saying you are using a proper turkey starter without giving any of the concentrations means nothing. What are the protein, lysine, methionine and niacin levels in the feed?

The tendency to perosis can be inherited.

If you parent stock is too closely related it could explain some of your hatching problems. The nutrition the parent stock is being fed can also be a problem.

Other problems with fertility can be due to having multiple toms in with too few of hens.

 

[Chrifister]

I think you're right about the slipped tendon. I examined him again today and I think I feel the tendon pop into and out of place. It feels like the tendon can slip to the inside of the leg. When I extend his leg backwards and put my thumb on the tendon/back of the hock and gently push/twist the leg back to normal orientation, it kind of pops/clicks back into place with the leg. When I put him down he immediately kicks the leg out to his right and crawls like he was doing.

I think I'll have to tape the tendon/hock in place and then maybe tape his two lower legs together for a bit to stop him from kicking it out to the side. Should I put him in a chair/swing thing for a while? Should he be able to touch the ground in the chair/swing? How long should the treatment take? I think I read the tape should be changed every 2 days?

As for the feed, I can't find the paper that came on the bag. There are only 2 places in town to get feed. There is currently a shortage on turkey starter but we got one of the last bags when we got this one. There was/is no choice so that's what they have to eat. By proper feed I meant it's the turkey starter that everybody uses/has to use. When the bag is gone, I might not be able to get more so we'll have to switch to something else.

 

[R2elk]

I think you're right about the slipped tendon. I examined him again today and I think I feel the tendon pop into and out of place. It feels like the tendon can slip to the inside of the leg. When I extend his leg backwards and put my thumb on the tendon/back of the hock and gently push/twist the leg back to normal orientation, it kind of pops/clicks back into place with the leg. When I put him down he immediately kicks the leg out to his right and crawls like he was doing.

Yes, it won't stay in place on its own. There is an episode of Dr. Oakley Yukon Vet where she fashions a splint for a BBW poult.

I think I'll have to tape the tendon/hock in place and then maybe tape his two lower legs together for a bit to stop him from kicking it out to the side. Should I put him in a chair/swing thing for a while? Should he be able to touch the ground in the chair/swing? How long should the treatment take? I think I read the tape should be changed every 2 days?

You can try a chair/swing. It needs to be able to touch the ground/bedding. I cannot say how long it will take because I cull them. The tendency to perosis can be genetic and I don't want that in my flock. I have never had it in a poult that I produced.

You can help its recovery by mixing vitamin B complex in its water at the rate of 1/2 capsule or tablet tp one gallon of water. It needs to be the only source of water and should be made fresh daily.

As for the feed, I can't find the paper that came on the bag. There are only 2 places in town to get feed. There is currently a shortage on turkey starter but we got one of the last bags when we got this one. There was/is no choice so that's what they have to eat. By proper feed I meant it's the turkey starter that everybody uses/has to use. When the bag is gone, I might not be able to get more so we'll have to switch to something else.

If you are in the U.S., Chewy sells turkey or game bird starter with a reasonable shipping cost.

 

[Chrifister]

We're in Canada. I've never heard of anybody ordering feed like that here. I think this bag of Turkey starter will do us this year. The turkeys will be sent to a family member once they are old enough. We have the joy of hatching them.

We watched a bunch of videos and fashioned a splint and a chair thing to keep his leg straight but it doesn't seem to have improved it. Not sure it kept everything in place and the splint ended up moving a little so he could bend his leg again. I'd call that a failure.

Reassessing him now and the hock is pretty much the same. It's fairly swollen and has no strength or stiffness to it. The joint is just floppy. Even if I move it and twist it so I feel the tendon is in the right place, the joint is still loose and wobbly. I just don't feel any amount of splinting will return strength to it. It's almost like he dislocated the joint and it won't go back in place, that's how loose it feels.

This would be the second one from this hatch with leg problems that has to be culled.