Twisted Leg on a 1.5 month old chick

[Airamith]

Hello;

This is my first post on the forum, however my hubby and I have been browsing the site since we got these chicks. It's a pleasure to finally have an account and join the posting.

I have a chick that we brought home from TSC on Feb 19th, they had just arrived earlier that day. She is a silver laced wyandotte and her name is now Boo because she's my boo boo chick. I didn't know anything about splay leg syndrome or Slipped Achilles Tendon in chickens. I think the problem is a slipped achilles tendon, however now her leg is actually twisted, the bottom of her foot points up.

She still eats, drinks and has healthy poop, I just want to do something to make her life better. We live inside city limits so I don't have to worry about a rooster bothering her (we aren't allowed to have one) but her sisters walk on her and she can't get around very well at all. Does anyone know of anything I can do for her? I was reading on the below site that once it's twisted there is nothing I can do to correct it,

https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry

Even if I can't correct it anymore, I want to do something for her. After all my research, I've decided that her situation is 100% our fault. We should have done more research before we brought them home. Being such, I want to do everything I can to make her life better. She's and her sisters are all our pets with the side benefit of giving us eggs. I don't want to have her put down unless I absolutely have to. I would even rather have her leg amputated so that the leg wouldn't hinder her the way it does now by getting caught on stuff. She still has feeling in the leg and foot, she flexes her toes as she moves around.

Do any of you have any knowledge, ideas or suggestions you would be willing to share with us? Any experience with this problem? We would really appreciate any and all advice.

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. There are many threads on slipped tendon here on the forum if you search at the top of the page. I would start poultry vitamins in the water (Avian Super Pack 1/4 tsp per gallon is a good one, and available online.) Read post #4 of the first link here for treatment, and good luck:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ick-slipped-tendon-broken-help-video-provided
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/756556/slipped-tendon-splayed-leg-confused

 

[Airamith]

Thank you so much for the advice and the other threads to check out. Unfortunately I've tried massaging it, and gently flexing it to try and get it to naturally return to the correct position, however it doesn't. She has extremely limited mobility in that joint and it seems to hurt when I flex her leg. Here is a picture of her right now.


She's wet from a bath in this, something got into the coop last night and everyone is pretty dirty. We have one injury that I'm watching, but with her limited mobility she pretty much just got trampled and coverd in what I call "upset poops", the runny kind caused by stress.

Has anyone seen something like this? The closest thing I can find is the Twisted Leg syndrome, caused by a slipped achilles tendon that wasn't treated quickly enough.

 

[Eggcessive]

You're welcome. lipped tendon is not easily fixed, and many chicks are put down or end up handicapped. Here is more information about deficiencies in parent stock that can cause it, plus another thread with a good out come. I'm hopping for the best--don't give up yet on trying to fix it.
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/6/diseases-of-poultry/220/slipped-tendon-perosis
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/30/chondrodystrophy-slipped-tendon-or-perosis
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/267256/slipped-tendon-in-4-day-old-chick-any-hopet

 

[Airamith]

We aren't going to give up on her. Putting her down won't be an option unless it starts to cause her pain. Right now she's healthy and happy, just disabled. We're turning the old motor home in the backyard into a chicken coop, and we've added easier access for her to get in and out, along with nesting boxes on the floor so she'll be able to get in and out of them with ease.

I don't have a vet too close to me that treats chickens, however I found one 45 minutes away that I'm going to call Monday during my lunch break and see what they say. If the vet says amputate, I think I would be ok with that. I watch her in the yard and it seems like her leg just gets in her way and makes movement more difficult. I just want to make life as easy for her as possible. If surgery is an option, it will honestly depend on how expensive it is.

I'm also thinking of making her a hammock. She seems the MOST comfortable when we hold her in the palm of our hand and she lets her legs just dangle. She practically melts into your hand and just relaxes. She'll go to sleep or even let you hand feed her while she sits there.

 

[ten chicks]

Can you feel the slipped tendon? I have treated a slipped tendon in an adult rooster. Run your thumb down back of her leg from hock(leg joins body)to shank(scales start)press down while doing this,can you feel tendon,it will feel loose/wobbly/springy(check against other leg so you can feel the difference)press down you should be able to feel it snap back into place. This might have to be done several times a day or you can wrap to keep tendon in place, You can also do stretching exercises,gently pull leg back like chick would do while normally stretching(what you are doing is stretching tendon)if she appears to be in pain,stop or perhaps you are pulling to hard.


The longer it is left,the harder to treat and less successful.

 

[Airamith]

We did try that, but her leg doesn't bend in that direction any more. If you look closely at the picture of her, her foot faces up instead of down like it should, and it feels like her joint is locked into place. I've been keeping up on stretching it a little bit at a time. It does get easier to move after awhile, however it will only extend so far.