Young chicken has problem with legs

[mariaella]

Hi. This is my first time on here.. hope someone can help.

I went to the vet on Monday, basically it was a waste of time. One chook needed to be put down and this other one ( Dino) needed her/his legs checked. Dino was walking around on one leg basically for a few days, the other was straight out in front of him /her. It has movement, but no weight can be put on it. Now the vet said it was a strain on that leg. The other I tried to tell him had started clicking in the joint at the (knee?) and I had assumed it was from all the weight being borne by that leg. The vet gave me no treatment for poor DINO, Just told me to keep him/her warm and quite.

Trouble is the the first leg is still stuffed, some 6 days later, the second is worse. the click got so bad and now the poor guy cant walk at all and is in some pain, he/she cant even sit but is laying on its side all the time, but only on the side without the clicking knee. The other thing is she/he has started to drink very little and seems a little hoarse (perhaps because of the lack of water). This little one has been hand raised as it was poorly when little due to an investation of RED Mites. (We drowned these with cooking oil). My little girl and I are very attached to Dino and the way things are going it will end up it the pets graveyard. I need some proper answers and treatment. The bloody vet basically stood the bird on his table, watched his leg go in front of him and made the diagnosis based on that !!!

Can anyone help please. Dino is our baby, thinks it is one of us . PS, Dino is approx 16 weeks old

 

[chic-a-deee]

Hi.
Do you have any idea how the chicks legs became that way?? Ive heard that while they are in the brooder, you should never put down just
newspaper as it makes their legs splayed. (Wide apart then affects their joints)
Did the chick fall or have something hit it?
Where are the chicks kept?
Is there signs of blood or trauma ie: animal attack??

 

[mariaella]

Hello Chic-a-Deee

thanks for asking.

Hi Dino had splayed legs for a while when younger, but he soon mended. He/ she has been in our house at nights ( full time now during the day also as cannot get around) He/she is in a travelling cot. But the floor was covered in coarse material. He/ she had been outside for about 3 weeks during the day and back in at night. He/she had been attacked by one chook over a week or so ago, and dino may have got one leg ( the one out in front) caught in a bit of material around a drain pipe. ( I noticed it was torn). But the other leg was fine ntil about a week later, when Dino stoped using it. The Knee joint is clicking. The chook is in some pain when I move it and the is coming from the leg which is out in front. This leg which was the intitial trouble, Dino is constanly trying to pull it in line with the body but it slips back out.

This is a chicken that was taken inside after a week or so of being hatched, it had been seriously weakened by red mites, which nearly killed it before we realised what the problem was.the tempertures have been freezing outside as has been winter here in Tasmania.

The vet said it was because the legs had been cold!! This is a vet that deals with farm animals, Chickens included.

Dino is a Rhode Island Red and approx four months old.

 

[chic-a-deee]

Do you think the weakening by the mites have contributed to it being unhealthy all round?
It might need an anti inflammitory for its knee. If its clicking it MAY be dislocated? Ive read on here that prednisone is used. Some people also use
baby nurofen for pain & swelling?
You can get some vitamins for the chicken. B & E & feed it scrambled eggs. See if there is any improvement after 2weeks. You will have to feed the
capsule to the chick yourself. Easiest way is pierce the capsule & squirt out the oil to the chickens mouth.
A serious case of mites could leave your chicken compromised in fighting off infection, even the lightest of cases could become worse in this condition.

Im in Australia, so know the weather in Taz.
You can get the meds in any health shop for humans!!!

Im not sure what to do about its dislocated knee. You could try clicking it back in place??? Or putting a supportive, stretch bandage over the site to
encourage it to click back in after the swelling & pain have gone down??

Good luck

Regards Chic-a-deee

 

[ChooksChick]

I'm not sure, but it sounds as though your chick has issues with the tendon on its hock joint.

Check this fabulous page and see if any of the solutions might help you.

Good luck!!

 

[mariaella]

Hello Chooks chic and Chick-a-dee

Sorry for my late reply, the net has been down here for a few days !

Yes I do believe the mites weakened the chicks, but the freezing cold and my lack of proper care would also have contributed. I have not had poultry since I was a child some 30 odd years ago, and all I did was incubate the eggs on our farm, mum did the rest. This Hobby farm is a new venture this year. It took me over a week to find mites were the issue, and then the legs became a problem because I had no proper flooring at the start. But Dinos legs had sorted for a good few weeks. It has put me off raising more chooks, even though all the others have done well.

I have tried support bandages and the clicking is not so bad now One leg seems to be turning out at the knee now, ( not the clicking one) so I am going to try and line it up with the other legs and hold it in place. I also tried to buy some Vitimins and minerals for chooks.. no such thing in Tassie, so ended up buying some for pidgeons, and if you look at the small print on the container, it says it is great for chooks too!!! B.V.M + Probiotic it is called. It has a great range of vits and minerals. Cost $18 for a big 2KG tub, but it will be good for the rest of the flock too.

Anyway today I made a hammock for Dino, it stretches across half the Childs Travelling cot I keep Dino in. He/ She has been so uncomfortable and constantly lying on its side, I thought enough is enough, I either fix you or kill you with Kindness, but it is time to pull out all the stops before permanent disfigurement sets in. next step strap the legs together to straighten one, second keep up with the Supplement above, and good food, and PRAY.

Heres hoping.

Chick a dee, I would never have thought of baby nurophen, or using humans supplements.... Always too scared to make thinks worse. I have however used half a small aspirin when the pain seemed too much.

Many thanks for your support ladies..