Swollen hock/knee?

[Sweetpea325]

My hen is 19 weeks old, since she was 8 weeks old, I noticed she always sat down leaning to the side with one leg kind of out and she has always skipped instead of running. When she sits on her roosting rail, most of the time she will stick out one leg and sit on her leg instead of her foot. She does not show any signs of bumble foot or any other injuries to her foot. Now I am noticing her hock/knee is enlarged (see pic below). It's not like it's swollen cause it has form to it, it's not just round. Anyone have any ideas of what this is and how to correct it? She is acting completely normal in activities and with eating and drinking.

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[GitaBooks]

It could be a slipped tendon, an injury, a deformity, or even some sort of viral arthritis? I hope these links help.

https://sites.google.com/a/larsencreek.com/chicken-orthopedics/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/867963/chick-with-swollen-hock-and-a-limp

Best of luck!

 

[Sweetpea325]

I've tried the slipped tendon treatment of stretching the leg back and popping it back into place with no results. I'm probably not doing it right. I'll try it again. Nothing else seems to match her symptoms. Thank you for the links!

 

[rita77]

My hen is 19 weeks old, since she was 8 weeks old, I noticed she always sat down leaning to the side with one leg kind of out and she has always skipped instead of running. When she sits on her roosting rail, most of the time she will stick out one leg and sit on her leg instead of her foot. She does not show any signs of bumble foot or any other injuries to her foot. Now I am noticing her hock/knee is enlarged (see pic below). It's not like it's swollen cause it has form to it, it's not just round. Anyone have any ideas of what this is and how to correct it? She is acting completely normal in activities and with eating and drinking.

.

I know that this post is older but wondering @Sweetpea325 what was the outcome of your chicks hock problem? I have one with the same issue. It didn't start as a chick. It developed as she got older. I don't think it was a slipped tendon because I didn't feel anything move when I was manipulating the leg. It's now progressed to where she's curling her toes and not really using them as she was before. I've tried putting Arnica gel on it and giving her aspirin to see if she got any relief but there was no noticeable difference. Any info will be greatly appreciated!

 

[Sweetpea325]

@rita77 I ended up taking Gracie to the vet, he told me her hock was deformed and to keep an eye on it in case it got any bigger. Well, a month later it did end up getting bigger and there was some heat to it since she was trying to use it so much. She also slowed down in her eating due to her being in pain. The vet put her on antibiotics which did help some, after a few days on the antibiotics the heat was gone and her appetite came back fully. The antibiotic's he prescribed was not for chickens but it was for dogs, I can not remember the name of it but it was not over the counter and it was a liquid that I used a syringe to put drops in her mouth. We then started giving her laser therapy, 3x a week and then down to 2x a week. We did this because she was still not using her leg at all and we were trying to get it so that she's not only on one leg as that can cause arthritis issues down the road. Before the laser therapy started working, she did lose the ability to use her middle toe but she did have feeling in it.

The very day the laser therapy had started working (about a month from the start) she developed a tumor in her reproductive track and had to be put down. The two conditions were completely unrelated. Gracie had be given a poor body unfortunately as a product of a hatchery chicken.

The day before she was euthanized, she did start put some weight on her bad leg and was starting to use it to stabilize herself. If she didn't develop the tumor, I firmly believe the laser therapy would have had a huge impact on her leg.

Hope this was helpful and hopefully there is a vet around you that you can take your hen to.

 

[rita77]

Thank you so much Sweetpea325! I have called every avian vet, and farm vets within a 200 mile radius. None treat chickens. I have birds (parrots) and even the avian vets that I've used won't see her

She's such a sweetheart and I want to do whatever I can to help her. She's not the luckiest chick that's for sure. She was born with a deformed tailbone and some crooked toes. She was gonna be culled but since she was eating, drinking, walking and growing ok I decided to take her. She's had some minor issues but this leg thing is getting worse. Right now she's recovering from Flystrike. I had no idea what it was until I saw it and immediately looked on here. I was so sad and sick over it. However, today is only day 2 and she's doing fantastic! She's eating and drinking and wants to be with the flock. Right now as I type this, I'm supervising her with the others. She just wants to lay under the trees with them. Being new this season to raising chickens, I've certainly learned a lot but still learning something new everyday! This is a great site

!
I finally got my first eggs last week from my beautiful Cochin Bantam. They are small but she's been doing a great job laying most every day.
I'm going to get some antibiotics for my Peanuts leg and see if that helps. It certainly won't hurt since we're working on healing the Flystrike as well. Thank you for your response!

 

[rita77]

Btw, her name is Peanut, Peanut Pipsqueak. I'm thinking I should've named her Kitty cat though with the lives she seems to have

 

[Sweetpea325]

Aww poor Peanut! I hope you have success with Peanuts recovery and the antibiotics help her!

This places website says the see chickens, I don't know how close they are to you:

Avian and Exotic Animal Medical Center
3000 Concord Road
Aston, PA 19014
610-494-2811
www.avianexoticvetpa.com

I don't know how close this place is to you but they may accept chickens:

Wellsboro Veterinary Hospital Reptile & Bird Clinic
12393 Rte 6
Wellsboro, PA. 16901
Ph: 570-724-3841
www.drkreger.com

and this place may:

Dr. Denise Pleban
Northview Animal Hospital
223 Siebert Rd.
Pittsburgh PA 15237
Ph# 412-364-5353
Fax# 412-537-5374
http://www.northviewvethospsystem.com/

I found these guys on the APA website:

Radnor Vet Hospital
107 N. Aberdeen Ave
Wayne, PA 19087
610-687-1550

These guys are also on the APA website:

Dr Nicole Wyre University of PA Vet Hospital PA Philadelphia
215-573-7120​

 

[rita77]

Aww poor Peanut! I hope you have success with Peanuts recovery and the antibiotics help her! This places website says the see chickens, I don't know how close they are to you: Avian and Exotic Animal Medical Center 3000 Concord Road Aston, PA 19014 610-494-2811 www.avianexoticvetpa.com I don't know how close this place is to you but they may accept chickens: [COLOR=333333]Wellsboro Veterinary Hospital Reptile & Bird Clinic 12393 Rte 6 Wellsboro, PA. 16901 Ph: 570-724-3841 [/COLOR]www.drkreger.com and this place may: [COLOR=333333]Dr. Denise Pleban Northview Animal Hospital 223 Siebert Rd. Pittsburgh PA 15237 Ph# 412-364-5353 Fax# 412-537-5374 [/COLOR]http://www.northviewvethospsystem.com/ I found these guys on the APA website: Radnor Vet Hospital 107 N. Aberdeen Ave Wayne, PA 19087 610-687-1550 These guys are also on the APA website:

[TR] Dr Nicole Wyre [TD]University of PA Vet Hospital[/TD] [TD]PA[/TD] [TD]Philadelphia[/TD] [TD] 215-573-7120 [/TD] [/TR]​

Thank you! I'll call Northview again. I called them before. I have used them for my birds. They are a hospital so the visits are really expensive. I want to help Peanut for sure but can't afford to pay $300+ for a visit. The last time I was there was with my friend when her Amazon was sick. He was old, had long term issues but his Dr is in Ohio so it being an emergency, we went there. We were there for about 6 hours and they decided to keep her bird overnight to keep him in the oxygen incubator. They had no idea what was wrong and said that they couldn't do any tests until he was stabilized. We tearfully said goodbye to him and assured him that we would be back soon. We left and they called before we even made it home and said that he passed away. The only treatment that he received while there was oxygen and an exam by the vet. The exam was quick and wasn't a "full" exam, she looked him over without touching him. The nurse transferred him to the oxygen incubator. When we saw him before we left I was upset because he was laying with his closed beak turned down into the towel and I didn't see how he was able to get oxygen at all. We moved him before we left and I mentioned it to a tech. She said that she would keep an eye on him. Being a hospital, it was full and busy where he was being kept. Anyway, the point of my long story I guess is that she had to sign an invoice with an estimated cost of care which said that she was responsible for the cost of care which could be "minimum $650 up to a maximum of $2,500". When we returned to pick up her deceased bird, the amount was $1,050. I was so completely shocked! That was for the exam, oxygen, visit and his 7 hour stay. I'll call them and if they agree to see Peanut, I'll get an estimated cost of visit before I make the appt. I have another hen, my first one that got me started raising chickens, that has splayed legs. Her previous owners didn't know what it was and didn't treat her. By the time I got her and started treatment, it was too late. I'm still taping her legs so that she can get around and besides her leg problem, she's doing very well. I want to find someone that could possibly do surgery and fix it. Despite her problem, she's happy and healthy. She desperately wants to roost with the others but so far I haven't been able to come up with a good solution for that. I've tried a few different set ups but I'm always too worried that she'll hurt herself trying to get down. So I'm still working on that

What is the APA? Seems I should know what it syncs for but I'm not sure... American Poultry Association? Thanks again for the list! It's nice to have others to help! Everyone I know thinks I'm a bit "touched" because of my chicken obsession

 

[Sweetpea325]

That sounds crazy how they would treat a dying animal! I would call the other places before going there again if I were you. I wish my vet was closer for you, he's amazing, throughly examines my chickens, hands on with everything, explains everything to you and he's not expensive.

APA is the American Poultry Association, they have a list of avian vets but it doesn't have them all on there.

I hope one of those vets treats your chickens they way they deserve to be treated.