Slipped Tendon/Leg deformity HELP

[Jhura]

Hello,
So I hatched a group of eight eggs from backyard chickens (Marans and RIR). They have Mareks and ALV, a milder virulence, and I was hoping to see if we could gain some immunity in the subsequent generation.

Everyone hatched okay March 11, with the exception of one prolapse, and two with leg deformities. The tendons are slipped, plus hip joint is misaligned with weakness. We saw this as soon as they came out of the egg.

So ended up seeing three veterinarians, and of the two chicks with leg issues, we made the decision to put down the boy because after six weeks of swaddling, chick chairs, carrying around, bandaging/splinting, medications, etc he just couldn’t walk at all.

Now we are left with the girl, who had one bad leg and one that is wobbly. All three vets recommended putting her down too, but she was still getting around and eating/drinking, even though she a third of the size as her other healthy siblings.

So, I’m at a loss. I have scoured this group, and read all the pinned posts on slipped tendons, leg deformities, stories, other websites, etc I was just wondering if anyone has gotten their bird to adulthood with these issues with some kind of ability to get around? Because if not, I guess I have to put her down too. Her mom is a 6 lb RIR, and her dad a 9 lb RIR, so she will definitely need some kind of leg capability even though she’s not growing a lot. I do hand feed her egg yolk and vitamins and grubblies too.

I’m super bummed.

 

[Debbie292d]

Have you tried B-complex? She'd get 1/4 of the human pills per day, or 1/4 dropper of the liquid.

To try put weight on her, this is what we got for a bird we rescued that was skin and bones. I mixed some in her mash I made out of the chick crumbles every day. Amazingly, in a couple of weeks she was thriving and growing and wound up being fine.

That's great all you're doing for her.

 

[Jhura]

We do nutridrench, but I can do Bs. I brought many my hens back from the dead with B Complex lol but this one’s got pretty marketed deformities. I did order a leg splint off of Etsy, just so she can use her bad leg to push off of with her somewhat good leg, but her somewhat good leg is kind of wobbly too, so that’s the trouble we’re having she just goes in circles…

 

[Eggcessive]

The b complex is mostly for riboflavin in chicks. There are all of the b’s including niacin for ducklings. Unfortunately, riboflavin is not in Poultry NutriDrench. It is in Poultry Cell though. Have you ever had any broody hens? Those are the best incubators. I hatched a few birds, and incubator issues are very heartbreaking, so I stopped. Many of my hatchery hens went broody every summer. I let a few hatch chicks, and never saw leg problems, pasty butt, or coccidiosis. With your chicks with leg problems, unless they can manage to get around well enough to get enough food and water, they may need to be cared for for the rest of their lives.

 

[Jhura]

The b complex is mostly for riboflavin in chicks. There are all of the b’s including niacin for ducklings. Unfortunately, riboflavin is not in Poultry NutriDrench. It is in Poultry Cell though. Have you ever had any broody hens? Those are the best incubators. I hatched a few birds, and incubator issues are very heartbreaking, so I stopped. Many of my hatchery hens went broody every summer. I let a few hatch chicks, and never saw leg problems, pasty butt, or coccidiosis. With your chicks with leg problems, unless they can manage to get around well enough to get enough food and water, they may need to be cared for for the rest of their lives.

So we’re looking to euthanize the little girl tomorrow. I’m really struggling with it. We’ve done many euthanasias, they’re never easy. I’ve just been taking care of this girl for six weeks, and while her brother had no use of his legs at all, she can still get around a little bit, which is what was giving me hope. She definitely has some form of dwarfism from not being able to be normal and thrive, but she eats a lot when I feed her and she’s very chirpy and vocal and wants to be with everyone else. I just know she’s in pain because that left leg is 90°, and with the slipped tendon she can’t walk on it at all. And her other leg is wobbly with hip issues. I was hoping that leg could get stronger and help support her. And I was also just hoping there must be someone on here that had a chicken grow up with a slipped tendon, that can maybe offer some advice. I don’t know.

 

[Sgriff721]

So we’re looking to euthanize the little girl tomorrow. I’m really struggling with it. We’ve done many euthanasias, they’re never easy. I’ve just been taking care of this girl for six weeks, and while her brother had no use of his legs at all, she can still get around a little bit, which is what was giving me hope. She definitely has some form of dwarfism from not being able to be normal and thrive, but she eats a lot when I feed her and she’s very chirpy and vocal and wants to be with everyone else. I just know she’s in pain because that left leg is 90°, and with the slipped tendon she can’t walk on it at all. And her other leg is wobbly with hip issues. I was hoping that leg could get stronger and help support her. And I was also just hoping there must be someone on here that had a chicken grow up with a slipped tendon, that can maybe offer some advice. I don’t know.

I’m currently dealing with basically an identical issue. Please tell me you found a solution? If not I’m terribly sorry for your loss. Any advice would be much appreciated if you have things that worked for you

 

[Jhura]

I’m currently dealing with basically an identical issue. Please tell me you found a solution? If not I’m terribly sorry for your loss. Any advice would be much appreciated if you have things that worked for you

So we did not use euthanize her yet. Even though she’s still very tiny compared to her hatch mates, she can still stand and somewhat hobble on her right leg. Even though that leg is bowed, she can’t get very far. Our left leg has the slipped tendon and her joint is Bent at the hock. I’ve tried for weeks to splint it to keep it straight to give it mobility which is what the doctor recommended, but she hated it and her skin was getting so irritated from the splints even though we used cotton gauze. The veterinarian also suggested silk pieces to go underneath the splint but I just haven’t gotten that far yet. I did order some 3-D plastic splints from Etsy, but again I haven’t been able to use them because her skin has been so irritated and her leg is swollen because she lays on it.

In the beginning I would lay her down flat and swaddle her with 4 inch wide Vet tape. She was good with this, because it kept her off her legs overnight, but now that she’s a little bit older she doesn’t like it.

My goal is to build an another iteration of a chick chair, where she’s somewhat Superman style and her legs are behind her, with possibly some mobility underneath. We’re working on that now I can keep you posted on what we come up with because I carry her around sometimes, and tend to her and feed her at least once an hour and I’m just so busy it’s really hard as you can imagine. I put her with two other new babies but they’re getting too big and need to go outside soon so she will be alone again. She chirps for them all the time!

She eats really well, I give her chopped up scrambled eggs mixed with a raw egg, I sprinkle her starter mash plus B vitamins and brewers yeast, plus a little bit of tuna and grubblies. She really loves live mealworms when I can afford to buy the big bag, and they help her gain weight.

I just don’t know what her bones are gonna look like as she gets older because she needs to be able to move around somewhat. The doctor suggested calling University of Tennessee their exotics division because they work with us all the time but she still may be too young for anesthesia.