My roosters limpy leg

[2000096904]

Okay as soon as you read the title you know that something's going to be wrong with my rooster and yada yada yada some people might say oh there might be a thorn in his foot well I've checked five times and there's no thorns the other thing is I think this might kind of be a slow rising thing because a couple of weeks maybe months before he started limping like this which he just started yesterday he was stumbling around on the same foot he couldn't really walk appropriately on it so my Austria White is not able to stand on his one leg it looks to be like it's his left leg so I need your help I'm going to need a little bit of information on what this might be cuz I've checked the foot it's not bumblefoot there's no thorns and he just keeps limping on this foot and it gets worse every day so I don't want to sit here and let him get hurt a bunch he's just sitting down right now and he's leaning sorted to the right kind of leaning down on it letting his wings support him instead of his left leg which he isn't putting on the ground right now I'm not sure if it's something with the leg and thigh or if it's something with the feet when I do catch him because I have to literally catch him because he's a fast chicken and I well he doesn't like cuddling that much so when I do catch him which I try not to go to to rap so that I don't hurt his leg a little more I find nothing on the foot that would seem to be hurting him I've checked up the leg and I felt around obviously I don't think it's a break but it could be a fracture or a sprained very easily and I couldn't even know I want to make sure my rooster is okay if he's our only breeding rooster or only only guardian of the flock and our only rooster at all this is the first rooster we kept for a couple weeks and I will tell you that he's starting to grow his first now so he is kind of young but wouldn't he be limping on both legs if it if that was the reason I don't know guys I need some help

 

[Eggcessive]

Was he vaccinated for Mareks disease? Could you upload a video of him walking to YouTube or Vimeo with a link posted here? Injuries are common in young cockerels and roosters. A picture of his legs might also be helpful. If he gets lame and cannot get around, make sure that he can reach his food and water. Chicken slings or chairs can be helpful to keep them upright and in front of food while resting a pn injured leg. But Mareks disease can look like what you are seeing. Here is some reading about it:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

 

[Eggcessive]

Here is some info about chicken slings and chairs that you can make:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/versions-of-chick-chairs-please.1166308/

 

[Three Musketeers]

Hi,

So I'm not so sure what this is, I hope someone will be able to chime in. I kind of had the same situation with one of my chicken's last year (a Sussex); she started limping which progressively got worse, paralyzing her body. At first she couldn't walk properly (one of her legs/foot) which degenerated into her not being able to stand (same behavior as you described with stabilizing itself with the wing when sitting). If not mistaken there a varying types of Marek (e.g. Cutaneous Marek's disease and Acute Marek's disease). Unfortunately she had to be euthanized (last year), and the most probably cause was Marek's.

I don't want to alarm you nor am I sure it's Marek's (it could definitely something else), so if possible I would go and check in with a vet (specialized regarding poultry preferably).

Best of luck!

EDIT: just to be safe I would separate him, as Marek can be highly contagious (hopefully your other chickens have already been vaccinated, but for safety reasons I think this is best). Also I would like to add that even if the vendor of your rooster states that he was vaccinated (this is done when they are young baby chickens - approx. under one day old), it happens quite often that they have not been vaccinated properly under the necessary parameters/protocols.

 

[2000096904]

I'm getting really worried because he's now starting to try and stand up but he can't he's been trying to crawl while sitting which I know means that he's definitely hurt he never grows while sitting before because it normally gives him hiccups so I know that something is definitely wrong he's now gotten up but won't really lift the leg and I'm checking again to make sure that it's the left one that's hurting he's trying to fly and walk so that he doesn't have to put weight on it and it looks to be like it's the right one that is hurting he's now laying down by the stream and he never really lays down like this he's laying down sort of on his ankles with his feet like up super close to his face he's really nervous and jittery and I'm trying to get a good look at his feet but I can't really I'm going to post a picture maybe you can spot something that I can't on his first that might be irritating him or something the Spurs are the tiny little bumps because he's just growing them now

 

[2000096904]

All of my chickens have been vaccinated for Marecks disease so I don't understand if this is mareks but we did get them all from a hatchery so I'm not sure if they actually vaccinated them like we told them and paid for them to do if this is Merrick's then I'm definitely going to separate him but I am not separating him as of right now because I simply do not have a cage available to keep him in

 

[2000096904]

 

[2000096904]

Okay I have a question if this does end up being mareks is there a way the vet or maybe even us can treat it I really do not want to have to euthanize my chicken so if there is a way that you know even if it's 1% chance please tell me this is our first rooster that we've kept for this long and we plan to keep them for years to come cuz we are almost absolutely sure now that this is marecks

 

[Eggcessive]

Mareks was only a guess. Since he was vaccinated, that is helpful to know. Do you see the color difference in his foot and toes in the picture? Is it bruised? Swollen? Chickens can suffer foot, leg or hip injuries and limp using wings to help balance. I have seen chickens with an internal organ inflammation come down with lameness due to pressure on the leg nerves. I would not presume that it is Mareks for sure. There is a test that you can do by trimming a toenail and collecting blood for a pcr Mareks test that can be sent to RAL lab (who has sent you the tube and instructions on collection already.) It may cost about $38. Here is a link for the lab:
http://www.vetdna.com/application/forms/aviansubmittalform.pdf

If you should lose him or cull him, you also cannget testing at that time through your state poultry vet. For now, I would treat it as an injury.

 

[2000096904]

Well I do not see any bruising or color difference they both look the same I don't think anything is wrong with his organs at all yet again we've never taken him to a vet before as we believe our chicken should stay as natural as we possibly can what also providing them the best care and we've never had any situation where we had to take a chicken to the vet anyway so since he's never been to a vet I'm not 100% sure about his organs but yeah that's basically all I know is that there's no bruises or color difference and about his Spurs would it possibly be because of his Spurs they're both coming in at the same rate and he's only limping on the one foot but I know there is some sort of possibility