Swollen hock on 3 month old pullet

[floppysquirrel04]

Hi all! I have a BLRW pullet who should almost 3 months now, and she has a super swollen hock. I noticed her limping a little bit a few days ago but I couldn’t find anything wrong with her leg so I assumed she just jumped off something and landed funny. It seemed to get better, but today her right hock is swollen and hot and she’s limping a lot more. I put her in a small/medium sized wire dog kennel in my coop with food and water with probiotics in it, is there anything else I should be doing? I can’t take her to a vet. Will it heal on its own?

 

[Eggcessive]

Swelling of only one hock joint sounds like an injury, possibly a bad sprain. Do you have any pictures? Is there any swelling in her ankle or foot? It can take a few weeks for a sprain to heel. It is important to try and keep her crate near the other chickens so that she is still part of the flock, or she could be bullied when coming back into the flock. It would not hurt to add 1/4 tablet of human vitamin B complex to a little food or water.

 

[floppysquirrel04]

Sorry, I meant to upload these with my earlier post. The kennel is still in the coop so she is still with my flock. No swelling anywhere else. I will try to get vitamin B, thanks!

 

[Eggcessive]

Have you ever before noticed anything odd in her injured leg? Leg bone deformities can get worse with age, and sometimes the hock tendon can become ruptured. Hopefully she will get better with some rest.

 

[floppysquirrel04]

Have you ever before noticed anything odd in her injured leg? Leg bone deformities can get worse with age, and sometimes the hock tendon can become ruptured. Hopefully she will get better with some rest.

No I haven’t. It was pretty sudden, and I can’t see any bruising/cuts and her leg isn’t twisting. It looks normal except for the swelling. I can move her leg around and she can bend her toes, but it’s slower than her other leg. I’m really hoping she’ll get better. Thank you for the help

 

[BennysBungalow]

No I haven’t. It was pretty sudden, and I can’t see any bruising/cuts and her leg isn’t twisting. It looks normal except for the swelling. I can move her leg around and she can bend her toes, but it’s slower than her other leg. I’m really hoping she’ll get better. Thank you for the help

I’m having a similar issue with one of my pullets. Did she recover?

 

[floppysquirrel04]

I’m having a similar issue with one of my pullets. Did she recover?

Not yet... she still eats and drinks and gets around fine and it’s a little less swollen, but not fully better. I actually just ordered her aspirin after researching how to dose it in their water.

 

[BennysBungalow]

Yeah, I’ve been doing that too. It’s same, totally normal appetite and trying to keep up with her sisters, just favoring the leg, hopping, and not scratching much. Is yours still confined? I’ve been weighing that, but they have all been in a smaller crate indoors during the last few days because of the heatwave we’re having.
Thanks for the update! Hope she gets better soon!

 

[floppysquirrel04]

Yeah, I’ve been doing that too. It’s same, totally normal appetite and trying to keep up with her sisters, just favoring the leg, hopping, and not scratching much. Is yours still confined? I’ve been weighing that, but they have all been in a smaller crate indoors during the last few days because of the heatwave we’re having.
Thanks for the update! Hope she gets better soon!

I had her in a kennel in the coop for a while but I ended up just letting her out a couple days ago because she needed exercise and she was pretty sad