What's wrong with my chick?

[ntankovich]

This six week old gal has the strangest thing going on. She walks but with it all bowed out. She is definitely limping. I can't see anything visibly wrong with the leg and she definitely wasn't born with it. She walks around my yard with her "siblings" but always supervised. What does this look like?

 

[MrsBrooke]

Isolate that chicken immediately.

If that was a sudden onset thing, I would guess an injury. It's possible she slipped a tendon in her hock or her hip somehow popped out of socket.

You might want to look into a chicken sling to let her get her weight off the leg... It's important to determine where the source of the bowing comes from... Is her leg broken? Can you feel her hip isn't right? Is her hock swollen?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/609764/my-chicken-sling <~~ Chicken slings.

Let us know what you find after a thorough, gentle investigation.

MrsB

 

[ntankovich]

Thanks for the response. I did isolate her just now. I'll look into the sling. Nothing seems swollen but today she was sitting a lot more. I'm pretty sure it hurts I just have no clue how she did it.

 

[ntankovich]

I can't see anything swollen. She puts weight on the leg but not a lot. Will a chick stay in a sling like that? I'm not sure I'm handy enough to make one but I can try. I have an adult that hurt her leg a while back after something got into their coop but she started walking normally after about three weeks.
This makes me so worried!

 

[MrsBrooke]

I'd give the sling a shot. She'll stay in it once she figures out her leg isn't hurting anymore... You've got to give her time to heal herself by getting her OFF the leg.

MrsB

 

[Ciqala]

Looks like a slipped tendon to me, check out this thread.. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/978353/rooster-chick-with-weird-leg

I have a one year old hen who has been like this since a chick and the poster in that thread has a little rooster with it. A sling or wrapping isn't going to do much. Your little lady will just be a little handicap is all, like my hen and this person's little roo. My hen's over a year old and going strong, there's pics in that link I shared too.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would put her on poultry vitamins in the water, or give her Polyvisol without iron baby vitamins2-3 drops daily by mouth for a vitamin deficiency. She looks like her foot is curled under and she is walking on that. It may be a leg bone deformity, but I would try the vitamins first. You can also give her vitamins with minerals by using Poultry Booster in the feed, or Poultry Cell vitamins with minerals 1-3 ml daily. Unless she is being picked on I would personally keep her with her flock for company and so you don't have to re-introduce her, unless you think she injured the foot.

 

[ntankovich]

I just saw these responses! Those pictures look exactly like what she is doing. The joint on that side is swollen but not excessively. I took her away from her pals but I'm thinking she may need to go back soon. We've been trying to keep her off the leg quite a bit but so far no difference. She's definitely still eating, sunbathing, etc when I take her out to stretch her legs.