Rooster with crooked leg

21 years ago

Eddie the Roo has a crooked/twisted leg. He kind of hops. Doesn't seem in pain, but definately looks weird. I held him and felt down both legs and nothing felt broken or dislocated. I wasn't going to worry about it, but a vet friend (large animal only) said he remembered something from poultry medicine in vet school (30 years ago) and thought it might be a nutritional deficiency. Eddie is the only one with the odd leg, and it seems to have started in the last week.

Any thoughts, opinions, etc?

Eddie is about 2 months old and is a Silver Laced Wyandotte.

Thanks in advance!

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Comments (4)

breezyb
21 years ago
I had a Buff Wyandotte rooster who went lame like yours & I took him to my local bird vet who, after testing, believe it or not, diagnosed him with gout. Said it's fairly common in the heavier breeds.

I ended up having to build a separate coop/run for him, because he was getting beat up & picked on by the other birds. I also had to limit his food to basic chicken feed, scratch grains & vegetables - no more leftover donuts, etc., etc., lol.

He lived out his days comfortably as a family pet. He was always a friendly, mellow guy to begin with, so it wasn't such a big deal.
CindyLouWho
Original Author
21 years ago
Thanks Breezy. So far, Eddie is not being picked on by the other chickens. He is very mellow, but also very protective of the hens. He patrols the run every morning when I let them out.

Why did you have to limit his food? Is gout nutritional? So far, I haven't fed the chickens any donuts :-), only veggie scraps, weeds from the garden and some kitchen scraps.

Is gout really bad? Of course, Eddie is my favorite....
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breezyb
21 years ago
According to the vet, just like in people, gout is the result of mainly & commonly "overindulgence". I'm sure there's more to it than that, but as far as my rooster was concerned, he was just getting too much rich food.

I love to cook fancy stuff, so guess I was at fault - lol!!!
velvet_sparrow
21 years ago
Interesting stuff! It never ceases to amaze me what you can learn... :) Gout in chickens! Thanks for the info, breezy, I didn't know chickens were susceptible to gout, but it makes sense that the heavier breeds would be more prone to hip/leg problems, just as heavy meat birds can suffer from heart issues.

Another possibility is a slipped tendon. If you manipulate his leg up and down for him while holding his leg with your fingertips, can you feel anything inside kind of 'jump', catch or click? Does he grasp normally with his foot to perch? There is more info here on the United Peafowl page:

http://www.peafowl.org/ARTICLES/1/

The other nutritional deficiency problem is Rickets, but if you are feeding a balanced diet it shouldn't be an issue. There is a great article on lameness in poultry from various causes here, it's a bit heavy on the medical jargon, but it's worth slogging through:

http://www.poulvet.com/poultry/articles/lameness_nutrition.php

Good luck!

Velvet