One month old chick with slipped tendon

[Redhead Rae]

I think one of my 1 month old Dark Cornish cockerels has a slipped tendon. I went out to catch an escaped guinea and thought I should take a look at all my chickens. I noticed this chick was limping and was hopping on one leg. It looks like a slipped tendon to me. Is there anyway to fix this or do I need to cull it? This is one of my broody raised chicks, so he is freaking out at being inside.

You can see the right hock is swollen and the tendon isn't centered like it should be.

This is all the farther the leg straightens out.

I'm trying to upload a video now.

 

[Redhead Rae]

@WVduckchick @azygous @Pyxis @Eggcessive @casportpony

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...yone-ever-try-to-fix-this-experiences.879233/

 

[Redhead Rae]

 

[Eggs82]

Two of my girls had this happen last year. After multiple attempts trying to wrap and splint there legs failed I had to put one down as she was unable to walk at all. The other one is a year and a half old, walks with a gimp, and has the weirdest looking leg. Other than that she does fine getting around. I hope you have better luck fixing it, but if not it’s not necessarily a death sentence.

 

[Redhead Rae]

I gave the chick a homeopathic remedy for tendon issues and put it back out with its mama and siblings. The chick was freaking out being inside. I came back inside, read casportpony's excellent instructions (Thanks @FlyingNunFarm!). I went outside, the chick was already walking better than before. I straightened out the leg, and the tendon popped right back in. The chick still walks with its leg out to the side a bit, but the hock is still swollen and it is now using the leg.

Two of my girls had this happen last year. After multiple attempts trying to wrap and splint there legs failed I had to put one down as she was unable to walk at all. The other one is a year and a half old, walks with a gimp, and has the weirdest looking leg. Other than that she does fine getting around. I hope you have better luck fixing it, but if not it’s not necessarily a death sentence.

I'll keep an eye on it. If the leg issue continues to stay bad, I'll cull it soon. However, if it recovers but limps, I'l raise the bird to 16 weeks and send it to freezer camp.

 

[Redhead Rae]

Just to be clear, I don't want to do any heroic measures. These birds will either be breeders or meat. I'll keep a watch on the leg and keep the baby with Mama. But if it is looking like it will need indoor care, I'm going to cull. With close to 100 birds, I don't have time to baby every single one.

 

[Eggcessive]

Leg bone deformities are very common in poultry, especially in meat birds and turkeys. The older term, slipped tendon, is not always accurate in diagnosing. Varus or valgus deformity or TD (tibial dyschondroplasia) are some that are very common. TD is also called twisted tibia. Varus valgus deformity causes a knock kneed or bowlegged appearance, and can affect one leg or both. All of these can worsen with age as the chick grows, and some may suffer a ruptured hock tendon eventually. The chick in the link in post 3 survived and did well in a small flock according to another thread she posted. Here is some reading:
https://www.researchgate.net/public..._of_the_Intertarsal_Joint_in_Broiler_Chickens

 

[Eggcessive]

More reading:
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/1051/leg-health-in-large-broilers/
http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/valgus-deformity

 

[Eggs82]

Here’s hei hey, the limp leg chicken. 20 months old and she still gets around, lays eggs fine and nobody usually

bothers her. If they do my head hen will come running from a mile away to help her.