Mystery injury

[mpflynn]

I have a little barred rock rooster who is on the small side and is around over 3 months old now I think. He started limping one day and it seemed to come and go, then I noticed him making a pain noise while drinking water so I checked his crop and he seemed to have sour crop. I massaged his crop and it went down! It has been seeming very good since then but his leg is still not good. One foot he holds his toes strangely and he seems to loose his balance. Poor guy just wants to sit down all the time. His appetite is really quite low. Im doing ACV water and some yogurt yesterday today I gave him a little feed with yogurt and ACV but he barely ate any. He just wants lemon balm and dandelion greens! I noticed tonight that his shank (leg) at the base where it attaches to his abdomen is swollen on one leg! I am struggling to find much information about an injury like that. He is being bullied horribly by my older female chickens so that could be how something happened. I keep thinking maybe its Mereks but his limp has been going on a week or maybe even closer to two so Im not sure if mereks lasts so long? Thanks for any help!

 

[Eggcessive]

Do you have any pictures of him or his swollen leg? It sounds more like an injury with the leg swelling. Upper leg injuries are harder to treat, especially in roosters. What made you think he had sour crop? Crops should be full by later afternoon with food and water, and then empty by early morning. Sour crop would smell sour or even rotten, and the crop would be squishy and full morning and night. Can you place him in a wire dog crate with his own food and water for a few days to see if he can limit his activity? Then week by week, I would evaluate how he is doing. If you can see a vet, an xray might be good. 1/2 an Aspirin low dose 81mg can be given once or twice a day for a couple of days.

 

[mpflynn]

Do you have any pictures of him or his swollen leg? It sounds more like an injury with the leg swelling. Upper leg injuries are harder to treat, especially in roosters. What made you think he had sour crop? Crops should be full by later afternoon with food and water, and then empty by early morning. Sour crop would smell sour or even rotten, and the crop would be squishy and full morning and night. Can you place him in a wire dog crate with his own food and water for a few days to see if he can limit his activity? Then week by week, I would evaluate how he is doing. If you can see a vet, an xray might be good. 1/2 an Aspirin low dose 81mg can be given once or twice a day for a couple of days.

Ok thank you so much! I maybe can try to get a picture tomorrow Ill need some help haha. His crop was swollen and squishy and he made a pain noise when drinking water several times, his appetite is very low. I was by myself treating him and didnt remember to open his beak to see if there was an odor. We are really new to chicken keeping, just a few years in. We had a girl suddenly die with symtpoms of impacted crop a few months ago. If he did have sour crop it seems to be resolved or at least very much improving. Would a leg injury cause low appetite? Yes Ive had him in a dog crate by himself with food & water, since yesterday morning! He seems to appreciate the chance to rest in peace without the bullying