Swollen legs. Pics. What is this?

[country]

I sold these Guineas months ago but the lady called & asked if she could return them. I generally have buyers waiting so I told her to bring them by. She said that one of them had swollen legs & she'd checked with vet & several feed stores but no one knew what it was. I told her that I knew a GREAT forum that would undoubtedly know what it was & how to treat it. She did tell me that the swelling started in 1 leg first, gradually got worse, & then started in the second leg. From my observation, she doesn't act like she is in pain & she doesn't limp, but I have to think that it must be mighty uncomforable to be swollen that much. It hurts me just to look at her legs. Plus, she has a really hard time keeping up with the others & she doesn't even try to roost at night so I definitely need to do something to help her. Here are some pics.

Any ideas!
Thanks
Country

 

[keeperofthehearth]

Ooooh, that does look uncomfortable! Poor baby! I don't know what it is and hope someone else pops in with possibilities soon. I looked up the Welp Hatchery Poultry Health listing:

http://www.welphatchery.com/poultry_health.asp

It does list leg problems and possible reasons. Hope you find out what it is and what to do about it.

 

[spookyevilone]

I used to do animal rehab, and we got a whole batch of guineas in with legs like that right during the beginning of winter. It was vitamin deficiencies. The birds had been free range-forage and then went to a pellet food that didn't have something they needed in it. (or they wouldn't eat it - we never really did find out. The owner didn't care, just wanted to dump them so he could sell the rest of the flock without a sick note on his birds.) We fed them sprouted wheat grass, veggie scraps, a whole bunch of medicated mealworms, and put a high dose of bird vitamins in their water. IIRC, it took about two months to clear up.

It was basically rickets for birds. The bones lose minerals and develop tiny hairline cracks if the bird jumps, and then it swells. Not sure if this is what's going on but it looks like the same thing.

Hope it helps. Hope the poor bird is ok!
-Spooky

 

[mypicklebird]

I agree probably Calcium/Vit D deficiency. Probably a cracked corn diet or some other insufficient diet for a game bird. If you really want to know- take it to a vet and get an x-ray done. Google metabolic bone disease, rickets, osteodystrophy. Basically the bone is not mineralized, they keep getting little fractures due to walking around, the bone gets really thick to compensate for being weak. It may be able to remodel some, if a better diet is provided and that really is the problem. Probably will never be very normal looking, but might get somewhat better- and certainly could get stronger and hurt less.

Could also be some sort of weird location abscess aka bumble leg....

Same vet that takes the x-ray would probably happily do an aspirate to tell you it is or is not an abscess.
I doubt she checked with a vet or a feed store(s).

Totally different treatments- vitamins vs antibiotics....

 

[Pine Grove]

Looks like Gout to me........

 

[mypicklebird]

Quote:
gout usually is at the joints, or internally- not over the long bones.

 

[country]

Thank you all for your replies. After reading your posts I had decided to find homes for the others, but to take her to the vet & then (depending on the diagnosis), try & nurse her back to health. Unfortunately, we had a predator raid last night & something got her. I've only had her a couple of weeks, but she was a sweet little thing & I feel awful that I wasn't able to keep her safe. I knew she couldn't roost with the others so I went out after dark & put her in the dog house that's inside the enclosed pen. Apparently she went back out after I left & she bedded down next to the chain link, which was a death sentence. She was easy prey for any creature that could reach through the wire. I wish I could have made her well.....

Her problem & your replies have taught me something. I've always included a "care & feeding instructions" print out with every bird I sell. It's loaded with everything a new owner should do, but doesn't include any specific instructions for thing he should NOT do, such as reducing feed quality for guineas once they've started free ranging. I plan on doing more research on nutrition for all my birds & I'll use it to update my care instructions. "The more I read, the less I know" seems to be the story of my life.

RIP little Guinea

Country