Roosters leg out of joint

[rancher hicks]

I have a rooster whose leg seems to be out of joint. It's the first joint in the leg. I can feel that it appears to be out of place. It may have been that way a couple of days. I noticed him limping yesterday. Is there a way to put it back in place?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

These websites may or may not be helpful...I did quite a bit of searching and googling but nothing leaps out as the obvious answer. I hope it helps anyway.

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/161/twisted-leg

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/1051/leg-health-in-large-broilers

Then the following quote is from this website (I believe that correcting slipped achilles tendon is aimed at young chicks and thus I don't know if it is done on older birds):

https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry

"Fix Slipped Achilles Tendon in Hock Joint
Click here to read one little chick's success story of recovery from a Slipped Tendon & Perosis.
Note from Editor: I have had no personal experience with a Slipped Achilles Tendon being treated successfully, though a number of people have. Information below is from what I have read & tried to analyze myself, but may not be sufficiently informed. Please do additional research to ensure best treatments. [If you have a success story, photos, or treatment tips, it would be very helpful if you would Contact PoultryPedia so they can be shared to help others!]
Slipped Achilles Tendon is a condition that results when tendon that runs down through the groove on the back of a bird's hock has slipped out of place off to the side.
This problem frequently occurs in conjunction with Chondrodystrophy / Achondroplasia & Perosis, conditions in which nutritional deficiencies in parent bird's diet keep chick's bones from developing properly to hold tendon. May also lead to Twisted Leg.
See "Ensure adequate nutrition to prevent Perosis" section to be sure that your chick feed has appropriate amounts of essential nutrients, and try supplementing in extra if your chick is showing a problem.
Symptoms: If a leg has a slipped Achilles Tendon, the joint will look swollen and the back of the hock will look flat (Compare to other leg to double-check). The bird can't fully straighten its leg by itself if this is what's wrong with it. One leg will turn sideways, and may stick straight out to the side
Treat this problem as soon as possible, so the tendon does not end up shortened or deformed.
If the tendon has been out of place more than a few days, it may be unbearably painful to the bird to try to fix it or may cause damage. You could try gradually stretching the leg the leg a number of times a couple days to lengthen the tendon, & then try correcting the placement.
This is especially true of young chicks because their legs are growing so quickly. Various bones, tendons & muscles will have done a lot of growing in just a couple of days and may have become too short, long or twisted so they can't allow the achilles tendon to be back in the correct location.

To reposition the tendon into the correct place: Gently pull the upper part of bird's leg a bit behind normal position and then carefully straighten the leg as though bird were stretching its leg back in a pretty normal stretching motion. Press gently against the side of the tendon if needed, and it should pop back into place pretty easily and cause little if any pain. Gently release the leg and it should return to a normal bent position.
Some sources recommend pushing the tendon back in place just by pressing with your finger. However, stretching the leg back is a much less painful method.

Sometimes a tendon has a hard time staying in place. It may have been out of place for too long or a chick's hock groove may not yet have developed enough to hold the tendon well (Be sure to provide very good nutrition to support optimal bone growth at this time. Do NOT give Calcium or other nutrients in excessive amounts, however--that could cause other problems.)."

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

In addition, could he have a break there? If so, I'd splint it. But I have not dealt with this and just telling you what I'd do.

 

[rancher hicks]

In addition, could he have a break there? If so, I'd splint it. But I have not dealt with this and just telling you what I'd do.

He hobbles around on it so I don't think it's broken. I'll keep him quiet if I can and see how he does. Another member said there is not much to do for it.