Rooster has an injured leg

[Chickittymel]

hey everyone,

I have a 5 month old rooster who has always been a little wonky. He walks like he is top heavy and bow legged (though he looks normal). About a month ago he seemed to have injure his right leg as he was limping. I kept him penned for a few days and he seemed to do better. Today I noticed the limp was the worst I’ve seen and he really seems to favor it. Oh, and I checked him for Bumblefoot but definitely seemed to be more joint focused than the foot.

I tried to keep him penned today but his attempts to get out to be with the other chickens make me worry about him hurting himself even more.

Any ideas?

 

[chicknmania]

Will he eat from your hand? If he will, you can give him a baby aspirin up to three times a day in a treat. I crush up the aspirin and roll it up in a tiny ball of bread with just a little bit of peanut butter spread on it to bind the aspirin. Or, you can put it in a grape.
It might help. Usually though this only works if you can catch him away from the hens, otherwise, he'll just try to give it to them. But we have an old rooster who I sometimes give a baby aspirin to as he has an occasional limp. He likes peanut butter a lot, and he'll eat it, and not try to give it to a hen. It does help. I'm guessing he has arthritis or maybe a bruised foot or slight sprain.

In your case, though, it could be something else. Your cockerel might have the beginnings of Marek's disease, or there are other viral cancers that can cause lameness. He might also have MS. (Mycoplasma Synovae) If his joints (hock or foot joints) are warm and swollen, MS is likely. You can try treating it with Denagard treatment strength, or LS50, (Lincomycin) if you can get it. Watch him to make sure he does not deteriorate, because if he quits eating or develops additional symptoms, then his lameness issue is most likely viral. If no more symptoms develop, and he doesn't really get worse, and has no heat or swelling, he might just have a sprain or he may have torn something, or, it could be genetic.

Anyway, if he were mine, for starters I'd concentrate on trying to get him to eat the aspirin in a treat. 3 times a day. It won't hurt a hen if she gets some. Also, you can try soaking his leg/ foot in Epsom Salts for at least ten minutes a day.

If he has swelling in his joints, and they're warm,, and you still are having problems confining him, you can try the Denagard and just use it as preventative strength for the whole flock, and see if he improves on just a preventative strength dose.

If you wanted to try LS50 You'd most likely have to get it from a vet, and that might not be what they'd recommend, but it has worked for us in the past, for an MS case we had.

 

[Chickittymel]

Thanks. I’ll try the aspirin and Epsom salt. He eats from my hand and sits in my lap. I strongly suspect a sprain because he is the most non-graceful bird that I have ever seen.....but he is one of my two favorites. Thanks again.

 

[chicknmania]

Let us know how he gets along. He looks very healthy from your picture.

 

[Chickittymel]

Update on James. I checked on my buddy first thing this morning and he was wobbling and limping like yesterday. I made an outdoor area for him and during that time he hopped off a little stoop and just laid down not wanting to walk on his leg at all. After putting him in the pen he got a little chicken-y and tried to flap his way out of the pen(though, this is a bird that can flap at most two feet high and the pen is 6’ tall). I also noticed that he didn’t seem to want to eat or drink. I decided to bring him inside and keep him confined to a small tub where I could monitor him closer and prevent him from trying to get free. I think I’ve made him a bit mad at me by taking him away from his girls.

However, he has taken the aspirin and I gave him some fresh food and water and he seems to be willing to eat if he doesn’t have to walk over to it. He has finally settled down for the evening. Fingers crossed that I see some improvement.

 

[Eggcessive]

You say that he looked bow-legged, and that can be a sign of varus deformity which can involve one or both legs. Leg deformities can result in a ruptured hock tendon during growth. Unfortunately if it is that, there is no treatment. I would place him in a dog crate with food and water near to him. Consider a chicken sling. Here is some info on varus defomity:
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/1051/leg-health-in-large-broilers/

https://www.researchgate.net/public..._of_the_Intertarsal_Joint_in_Broiler_Chickens

 

[Chickittymel]

You say that he looked bow-legged, and that can be a sign of varus deformity which can involve one or both legs. Leg deformities can result in a ruptured hock tendon during growth. Unfortunately if it is that, there is no treatment. I would place him in a dog crate with food and water near to him. Consider a chicken sling. Here is some info on varus defomity:
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/1051/leg-health-in-large-broilers/

https://www.researchgate.net/public..._of_the_Intertarsal_Joint_in_Broiler_Chickens

Actually I said he walks like it but I was just trying to explain his wonkiness while walking....one of my friends explains his running like a kid whose shoes are to big.

I don’t think his legs are actually crooked....I may be wrong though. What do you think? Here is an infrared shot of him. I was looking for extra heat on his injured side using my thermal camera. But it gives me a good view of his legs without feathers.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would probably see better with a regular picture straight on.

 

[Polish Hen House]

I hope he gets better.

 

[chicknmania]

See, that's the problem, a lot of times there's nothing to see. We had a cockerel that was suddenly lame; he got better for a few days after about six weeks forced rest. I let him out when he appeared to be sound, and two days later he was very lame again. I put him back on forced rest and tried everything I knew how to do. He never improved. I finally gave him to a friend who wanted him..she thought she might be able to rehab him. She has a small coop and run with a few hens, and they all free range during the day. So, last I heard, he has good days and bad, but he has never fully recovered. He never showed any consistent heat or swelling in his foot or leg. No sign of anything. YOu'd think that if something was torn in there, there'd be swelling and or heat. Bu there wasn't. But there must be something torn, or he'd be getting better. In his case, though, he always ate and drank, no problem. Chickens are so hard to diagnose...because nobody ever thought about veterinary care for them, up until the past ten or twelve years...

Make sure yours keeps eating and drinking. You can tempt him with goodies; applesauce mixed in his food, chopped grapes, berries, cantaloupe guts, yogurt, buttermilk soaked bread, scrambled eggs, watermelon...the list is pretty much endless. Anything he likes. In most cases they are in better spirits if they can hear or see their friends, but that's your call.