Polish Breeders Club

I have a Crevecoeur Pullet, 7 months old, that has really swollen legs. They are twice the size they normally are & hard. None of the other 60+ chickens in the flock are showing any signs of this at all. I have isolated her, put her on antibiotics in case it is an infection. Her legs are really hot to the touch. I am rubbing her legs with vasoline, in case this is Scalley Leg Mites. She has been like this since Friday. There has been no change in her condition since then. I have also added vitamins & electrolites to her water. She seems fine otherwise. Does anybody have any clue as to what I am dealing with???

Hi, do you have a picture of the pullet's legs?

I have a group of Crevecoeurs which are about 4 months old, and took reference photos of each bird a couple days ago, for the first time in a couple months. Several appear to have odd problems which look like they might have a genetic basis. One cockerel is somewhat smaller than the others and has very thick, stubby legs when compared to all its hatch mates. The shanks have a slight bulbous shape to them, but don't feel swollen, just hard as if they contain bone and sinew like other chickens' legs but a lot more of it.

I wonder if our birds could have the same problem? I will post a photo of the odd legs. Actually, I wanted to start an illustrated thread :-( on Crevecoeur genetic defects, but I don't have my post together quite yet,

Best - KR

Here's the photo of thick legs:

Bad news, too, this is not just some genetic fluke; it's a condition called Avian Osteopetrosis, which is caused by the avian leukosis / sarcoma viruses (eg lymphoid leukosis, myeloid leukosis).

Look at Poultry Diseases (Jordan & Pattison, 5th edition), p. 248... there is an identical pair of legs in the photograph.

According to the text the leukomaviruses are transmitted mainly from hen to egg, and from chick to chick in early life. Among adult chickens these viruses are not highly contagious, but still contagious.

I plan on taking my affected chicken, and a hatchmate who seems to have a tumor on the edge of his beak, away from the general chicken population ASAP in the morning. Both are cockerels. I will have to decide what to do with them.

Based on what I (not a vet) read in the linked book, the tumor on the beak could well be myelocytomatosis.

I have got to say, I feel used by the hatchery. This is the first time I've encountered anything like this, and have discovered it only after about a month of letting the new, possibly infected group of chickens have social contact with other groups of older chickens. In my naive view of the world, the young'uns were more in danger of picking up disease from their worldly-wise elders than they were of passing horrible, incurable congenital disease on to everybody else like so many plague rats.  If my dear hens contract cancer because of this!!!

One orders chicks from a hatchery on the presumption that they'e not going to arrive contagious. I mean, am I wrong in this? It seems like a pretty reasonable expectation,

Best - KR

N.B. I guess I was pretty brief in my reply above:

Avian leukosis sarcoma viruses or ALSV: a family of retroviruses which cause cancer in birds, especially chickens.

Avian osteopetrosis: uncontrolled thickening of the long bones of the leg, caused by a leukoma virus making the bone cells multiply.

Myelocytomatosis:  a type of myeloid leukosis where nodular tumors form on the bones, eg skull or ribs, and/ or internal organs

Thank-you for the information. That does indeed look like what she had. I kind of figured it was genetic, but was hoping it was something cureable. I have not been able to get onto this site, as I have been really busy with my chickens. Had a bout with CRD & lost about 1/4 of my flock to it! Nasty disease.

Black beauty  got so bad that she could not walk. I was hand feeding hee & babying her until the end. Sadly, she passed away.

Again, Thank-you. I do appreciate youtaking the time to answer me. Now I know what I am dealing with, if it ever presents itsself in the future.

Paris