THIRD LEG ON CHICK

[monicabendele]

I have a three week-old Starlight Green Egger with a THIRD leg coming out to the left of and close to the vent. The vent is shifted the right. The leg is fully formed but not functional. The foot is clawed/curled up. It's warm, the knee joint extends, but chick doesn't seem to like that, so the leg stays in a curled position against it's back side, with foot right under the vent. It seems totally happy and healthy, but a few concerns....

1-An area that looks healed over with very thin skin covering abdomen
2-Insertion of leg is confusing and not clear cut.
3-Vent is shifted to right. IF bird makes/lays eggs, will this kill her?

Anyone with experience with this? Thoughts? (I did not return her because she is healthy and they would just euthanize her, but they did give me a free replacement of the same breed)

I WILL come back to post photos. Waiting for them to download to laptop.....

 

[monicabendele]

Photos

 

[Kiki]

Where did you buy this chick from?

 

[chickentrains]

@Ceciliasflock has a four legged chick, and might know more about how to take care of a chick with extra limbs.

 

[monicabendele]

JAX-(Hoover's Hatcheries)

 

[RosemaryDuck]

I do not personally have experience with this, but I can tell you of the cases I've read about over the years.

A few people have had chicks like this. I believe 2 of them ended up being hens. The issue is, if the chick you have is a hen, she may not ever be able to lay eggs properly and will become eggbound, or lay internally.

The deformity often includes a partial hip bone/extra bit of bone where the leg forms and it can disrupt egg laying. If it's a rooster, it's likely it will just live a normal life with an extra leg.

I hope this helps, and hopefully some others can give you more information as well!

 

[Madhouse Pullet]

Very interesting! Wishing you the best of luck!

 

[Chicalina]

that leg will need to be removed I think. It will get pooped on, collect poop and encourage flystrike and vent gleet.

 

[monicabendele]

I do not personally have experience with this, but I can tell you of the cases I've read about over the years.

A few people have had chicks like this. I believe 2 of them ended up being hens. The issue is, if the chick you have is a hen, she may not ever be able to lay eggs properly and will become eggbound, or lay internally.

The deformity often includes a partial hip bone/extra bit of bone where the leg forms and it can disrupt egg laying. If it's a rooster, it's likely it will just live a normal life with an extra leg.

I hope this helps, and hopefully some others can give you more information as well!

Yes, this is what I was afraid of. So, if egg bound, then she would die from this, I assume? I'm fine if she just can't lay eggs. Wouldl body just reabsorb eggs, or would egg bound mean death? I don't know if you can tell from photo, but leg is basically where vent should be, and vent is shifted to the right.

 

[RosemaryDuck]

Yes, this is what I was afraid of. So, if egg bound, then she would die from this, I assume? I'm fine if she just can't lay eggs. Wouldl body just reabsorb eggs, or would egg bound mean death? I don't know if you can tell from photo, but leg is basically where vent should be, and vent is shifted to the right.

Egg binding can be fatal if you don't catch it or treat it in time. That's not to say she will have those problems but I listed them because it happened in the other 2 cases.

Every case is different I'm sure, so it's more of a waiting game to see if you do have a hen and if she'll develop any issues.