Limping Jersey Giant Cockeral (Luno)- UPDATE- Found vet!!

[LilChickCoop]

I don't want to, but my Jersey Giant cockeral is limping so badly... he can't support any weight on his leg. There are no signs of trauma or bumblefoot... it is breaking my heart.

What do I do?

 

[zookeeper15133]

I've read about slipped tendons. They appear rather easy to correct. Search it and see if the symptoms fit.
Maybe some one with more experience will have other ideas.
Good luck!

 

[LilChickCoop]

Everything I found was for a chick- he's 6 mos old!! I don't have a bowl or container to fit him... just went to check on him and he can't get up in the coop with everyone else.... Anyone??? Please?

 

[GatorChickenRanch]

If you have the money, try taking him to the vet. It's not worth it to cull him until you find out if the condition is treatable or not.

 

[speckledhen]

Slipped tendons are not easy to correct, but it's probably not that-you usually get that in younger birds, it seems. A weakness in that joint can be a vitamin deficiency, but the truth is that roosters tend to injure their legs by running after hens, dodging and weaving like they do, or jumping off high places. What you need to do is put him in a cage or dog kennel with thick bedding so he has limited movement and just give him time to heal. Give him vitamins, extra protein and, every other day, a baby aspirin. If it isn't permanent tendon damage, he may heal up, but leg injuries can take awhile.

There is a product called DMSO that improves circulation and you can usually find it in the feed store, sometimes around the horse liniments. You rub it into the leg once a day or so. It is safe to use on birds and may help some, depending on what the cause of the injury is.

 

[LilChickCoop]

Thanks.. I will give that a try and see what happens. Should the dog kennel be in the chicken yard so he is still around the rest of the flock?

 

[rhs7111]

First of all, NO don't cull if you don't know what the problem is! Second, DMSO is not a liniment! It is a substance that carries medications ( or toxins, accidentally) into the bloodstream and it can be dangerous. If you get DMSO on your skin, you will experience a garlic taste. It is used, with caution, as a leg sweat for horses---not for chickens. You either have a broken leg (which may or may not be obvious by the way your roo carries the afflicted leg) or a bumblefoot/abcess in process. An abcess can take time to show itself on the surface of the skin. Post photos so we can get a better idea of what is happening. If it is an abcess in process (bumblefoot), applying ichthamol (an ointment used to draw an abcess out, available at feed stores) and then wrapping the foot in gauze and vet wrap works well. Change the bandage daily. If the roo will allow you, soaking the foot in warm water with epsom salts really helps a great deal. But first post photos here!

 

[speckledhen]

To clarify, I did not say DMSO was a liniment; I said it would be found around the horse liniments in the feed store. It is safe to use on the bird's leg (according to Dr. Peter Brown, PhD in poultry science) and it does improve circulation. I used it on my crippled rooster, Zane, but later we found that he had permanent tendon damage so nothing was going to fix that.

Many things, such as benzocaine, are not safe for birds, but DMSO was indicated as treatment to improve circulation for my rooster's injured leg by Dr. Brown. You would definitely want to either wear gloves or wash your hands immediately afterward, though, so as not to accidentally get it into your eyes and to avoid that garlic taste that was mentioned.

As for the location of the dog kennel, you want him quiet so I'd not put him right in the thick of things or he'll be trying to get out and upset. Separate him to keep him quiet.

If you have a vet who knows anything about chickens and want to do that, by all means take him to the vet. I couldn't do that with Zane. If there is no swelling, the leg may not be broken. It may just be a sprain, which is very common with roosters. Have seen it many times. Hard to say for sure what's wrong without seeing him.

 

[CariLynn]

DMSO is a great product for injuries but one needs to take caution of how much you use. Too much it will blister the skin and if you use it with your bare fingers, you may taste and/or smell garlic. It is used to blister horses legs when they have pulls or strains, but can be very beneficial too. You won't need but a small dollop or less than a dime size drop of it for your chicken.

I personally use it on my lower back when it is really hurting me or my hands after I ride or drive and they are stiff. I do ensure that the area is very clean, as what Speckled Hen said it true, it will pull anything on the skin into the body, it soaks in that well so you also need to be very cautious too about that and clean the area very well.

Good luck!

http://www.dmso.org/articles/information/muir.htm

 

[LilChickCoop]

UPDATE: 08/02/2011

Luno started to not put any weight on his bad leg... the girls started to take advantage of him and I was unsure of what to do..

By chance, I found a vet here on the Space Coast (Dr. Prussner) and took him in yesterday. I was appalled when Dr. Prussner flipped him over and I saw how skinny he had gotten. I thought for sure, this doctor is going to tell me that there was nothing he could do.

We had waited for almost 2 hours (walk-in- next time will be appt) and had almost resigned ourselves to the fact we were going to lose him.

Dr. Prussner examined him and seems to think that Luno may have fractured his upper stifle (upper leg bone area). Luno is confined in a dog kennel for at least the next two weeks while he recovers. I am also tasked with "fattening" him back up to get his weight back to normal. Oh, darn-I guess that means I will have to spoil the little (ok not so little) fella.

Here is what I have done for Luno for now:
-Put him in a medium size dog kennel (I will upgrade that in a couple of weeks so that he can start to move around)
-Put Poly-Vi-Sol in his water to hep fortify him
-Gave him layer food as the doctor suggested an increase in his calcium intake.
-Put him in the house so that he is kept away from the other chickens and won't get stressed out.