This is hard to describe, but I'll do my best.

 

One of my new girls sits with a very wide stance, and seems to be favouring her left foot. She puts it down very gingerly. I thought perhaps she hurt her leg a little when she was caught.

 

But I have since noticed that her wing tips seem to sweep over to one side, with her tail curving over to the opposite side, giving her an overall look of being bent in two directions.

 

Please excuse the terrible photograph, this is the best I could get tonight.

 

 

What is going on here?

 

Note that the way she was sitting at the time made it look a bit more pronounced than it actually is. But this definitely gives you an idea of the shape I am talking about. I just went and checked on her and her wings curve slightly (it's definitely noticeable) but not as bad as the picture.

 

Does she have some kind of deformity in her back?

 

If it turns out to be some permanent problem that means I can't breed from her, then I would be so disappointed, but I would make her a pet and love her as she is (I think she is gorgeous).. but I feel terrible that somehow I didn't see it. How could I not notice????? I feel guilty that I might have brought her home without noticing such a big problem, even though I don't remember anything looking strange when I put her in the cage.

 

Is it something you recognise as a health problem? Orthopaedic perhaps?

A developmental problem?

Is it a balance problem? Is she standing funny to try to balance better? She seems to sit straighter on a thick branch than on a plain perch (that perch is too thin and I need to replace it). Is she favouring an injury and sitting strangely because of it? (Her wings were not dropped like that before)

 

If not a health problem, is it just a bad fault? Something that would be passed on?

 

I'm not going to lie, I'll be really sad if it means I can't/shouldn't breed her. But she comes before hypothetical future chicks.

 

 

 

If you guys don't recognise what this is, I will take her to the vet.. but for now I was hoping someone might know what it was to put my mind at ease a bit. I feel so bad for her, and guilty that I didn't notice.

 

 

 

Edit: typos

Edited April 7, 200916 yr by Emma

I had a hen like that it was a dislocated hip.

ack

 

It would explain the way she is standing and the way she puts her foot down so gingerly.

 

 

Can that be fixed or is there no hope for her

 

 

Edit: the vet is going to give me a call back in a few minutes. I will probably need to leave work and go home to get her.

 

Edited April 7, 200916 yr by Emma

I had one like this once. He was very small and had a bend in his back. We called him Waddles, and he was the one of the sweetest natured aviary birds we ever had.. but we never bred with him so I don't know if he would have passed it on. I never knew exactly what caused it but it never got any better or any worse so I just assumed it was some kind of deformity.

My hen was normal and then it happened last year, a breeder told me that these things happen they crash into thw wire etc but I think it was from her last clutch of eggs.

Back from the vet.

 

He couldn't find any dislocations, fractures or otherwise. He said if it was dislocated she would avoid putting weight on it (all the while she is climbing all over the sides of the cage and sitting there, hanging on with her feet ......). He said that tears and fractures didn't hamper them using their legs entirely, but if it was a dislocation, she would try to stay off it as much as possible. She's been careful putting her leg down, but then she'll spend ages climbing around, so that was confusing.

 

He couldn't see any spine deformities or major leg problems, and while there isn't a way to know for sure, he said the chances of it being a hereditary problem are very slim - it is more likely that it is either a long-standing injury that healed badly, or a developmental problem that she's had from an early age.

 

When she's perched on something wide or hanging off the wire, it's barely visible (which is probably why I didn't notice it). It's only when she sits on something narrow that she has to fight for balance a bit and it makes it more obvious - she seems to use her wings and tail as counterweights to be able to sit on a narrow perch. When she is having problems balancing, the problem is pronounced, but when she can sit on something wider and relax, she doesn't have to throw her wings and tail out to be able to sit.

 

(I am throwing those thin perches away as soon as I can find another couple of good branches)

 

So the upshot is:

 

- still a possibility she has muscular/ligament/etc injury from being caught - will keep an eye on this

- the weird wide stance and associated bendy look are likely a long-standing thing that doesn't cause her any discomfort, just makes her look odd

- while there's no way to be 100% sure, it's extremely unlikely that it is hereditary, more likely to be something that happened when she was little

- bird xrays are hilarious

- bird xrays are also expensive BUT put your mind at ease one way or another

- bird vomit looks like seeded mustard! (that's a new one for me)

 

 

She's happy, bright, talkative, moves around plenty (so it's obviously not hurting her or making her uncomfortable), has a good appetite, she's glossy & healthy...

 

She just has bung legs.

 

 

 

Will keep an eye on her over the next few days to see if she keeps being careful with her left leg. She vomited quite a lot from the gas, but is still very bright, very talkative at the moment, happy to be back with the others I think.

 

Edit: Splat - what happened with your hen, was there a treatment? I'm just curious.

 

Thanks guys

Edited April 8, 200916 yr by Emma

Is she kept in a cage or an aviary?

 

If you find some wider branches, you can get those screws from bunnings that screw into the wood and have a bolt on the other end. So you screw the end into the thick branch, have the bolt go through the wire, and attach a wing nut on the outside. This always works better than trying to find a thick branch that can go through the bars at both sides of a cage.

 

Dave

They're in cages - but I know the thing you're talking about, I will definitely do that in future. For now I have them wedged in (which works fine) but I'd rather they were fixed, obviously.

 

She just seems to cope better with nice thick (rough) branches - ironbark type - ones with good bark on them. They seem to give her more support, which in turn lets her relax her back a lot more.

 

I feel much better. $160 for xrays that came up negative is both painful and a relief at the same time

 

Just need to keep an eye on her to make sure she is okay after being sedated.. she vomited a bit and was a bit shaky. But I'll be back home again in a few hours.

 

My wallet has taken a big hit this week, I was off work on Monday with food poisoning, plus the $160 vet bill and the 3.5 hours I had to take off today.. yikes. I'll be down about $350 all told.

 

Ah well, money was made to be spent I'm so glad she is okay, she is special, I know it already.

She seems straighter this morning - go go posturepedic ironbark branch?

 

She's eating and drinking (which is good to see, I was worried after she was sick from the gas), active, LOUD.. seems fine. I did give her a bit of spark yesterday so maybe that helped perk her back up a bit.

 

Maybe the injury is something she's had for a long time and I just didn't notice the "bend" because she was on a wide perch at the store. She looked really healthy in all other ways - I very specifically asked the lady at the store to let me look over her (especially her face and eyes) to see that she looked healthy. I must have just not been able to see the bend - or she wasn't displaying it much at the time.

 

I really wish you could hug budgies, I just want to squeeze her to bits. I love her so much already, she feels like a big pile of silk. She has a lovely gentle face (it lies...), and she just looks gorgeous. Her bow-legged look just makes her appear even sweeter.

Animals commonly vomit when they are under anaesthesia (including humans) and that is why animals are fasted before hand, so that they do not aspirate under anaesthesia from the vomit.

 

Even if you do decide to breed from her, you are unlikely to get anywhere as she will find it very hard to mate. As she will have to support both her weight and the male's weight and keep balance. If it is a painful condition then she won't mate at all because it will hurt her everytime the male mounts her.

When I saw the vomit I was confused, then it dawned on me that she had been sedated, so I didn't worry too much - just wanted to make sure she came out of it and started eating again.

 

About the balancing - yep, that was pretty much my very first thought, that she may not be able to grip well enough. I don't think it is painful, she doesn't seem uncomfortable at all.. but the balance thing does worry me. If that's how it is, that's just how it is.

Could be Rickets. Rickets is a calcium deficiency as a chick which causes weakness in the feet and legs, might be the cause of her poor stance

does she sit normally on a flat surface? The reason I ask is that if she is going to breed, this might be a helpful iftem to add. I had a bird that broke a leg and I was going to use this method to provide her a flat surface to "perch on" during mating.

Could be Rickets. Rickets is a calcium deficiency as a chick which causes weakness in the feet and legs, might be the cause of her poor stance

Vitamin D3 deficiency actually

Edited April 10, 200916 yr by Sailorwolf

The vet suggested it might have been a period of poor nutrition.

 

I think she still waddles when she is on a flat surface, but she doesn't have problems perching or climbing (or even hanging off branches occasionally).. she has strength in her legs.. it's just that she seems to be careful with her left, needs to find a good position before she will settle down on the perch. So I have my fingers crossed that will be alright (while not getting too hopeful).

 

The flat surface might be a good idea to try if she is having problems balancing with a mate.

 

Thanks :budgiedance:

Even if you do decide to breed from her, you are unlikely to get anywhere as she will find it very hard to mate. As she will have to support both her weight and the male's weight and keep balance. If it is a painful condition then she won't mate at all because it will hurt her everytime the male mounts her.

 

 

I agree with SW on this. I would forget about using her for breeding.

Edited April 10, 200916 yr by KAZ

I don't want to write her off without at least trying.

 

Obviously if it was painful or too awkward I wouldn't go any further, but she honestly does not appear to be in any kind of pain or discomfort, just unsure where to put her left foot at times.

 

It's very hard to explain how she looks and sits. The picture makes it look much worse than it actually is! She normally sits with a slightly wider stance than normal, with her toes turned in a little. She's fine once she has settled and found a good part of the branch to sit on.

 

 

 

If she shows any sign of pain or discomfort, or if it stresses her or is too awkward, I won't keep trying after that. I don't want people to think I'm ignoring the possibility (probability?) that she won't be able to mate properly. But at the same time I don't want to write her off because she stands oddly - it doesn't seem to have a negative impact on her moving around or perching, so I would like to give her a chance.

Edited April 10, 200916 yr by Emma