Young crow with bendy legs

Re: Young crow with bendy legs

An On MRCVS — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 23:54:01 GMT

AAAAAAAAAARRRRGGHHH thanks for warning....!

Re: Young crow with bendy legs

Michael Woodhouse — Sat, 27 Jul 2013 00:39:39 GMT

Just be careful you don't wake up to the RSPCA shining a torch in your face

Re: Young crow with bendy legs

mariette asselbergs — Sat, 27 Jul 2013 00:20:31 GMT

Thanks for all the contributions sofar. It seems to enjoy life at the moment, eating eagerly and interacting loudly. It seems to be stronger on its legs, and the main problem seems to be one of the legs, we'll see how it goes and if it will need some sort of support for a while. I have added some extra yeast to its food (dog food and catfood), and am curious to see how it goes. Our household has at the moment an old dog post vestibular syndrome, wobbly and with a tilted head, and a hedgehog which manages to get around although wobbly and regularly falling over, so another wobbly creature fits right in. Time for a good sundowner for us probably.... :-)

But I'll not hesitate to PTS if QOL is no longer there for any of them. Sofar the whole lot still seems to enjoy life.

Mariette

Re: Young crow with bendy legs

tess — Fri, 26 Jul 2013 20:13:23 GMT

Last year our dog disturbed a pheasant's nest in our woods. We monitored it and she didn't come back so I put the eggs in our incubator. They hatched but they all had "splay leg", as you describe above. I hadn't realised that pheasant eggs are incubated at a higher temp than hens' and this was apparently the cause. None of them came good and I ended up putting them to sleep .

It's unlikely that this bird will recover and the problem may have occurred at the incubation stage.

Re: Young crow with bendy legs

Stephen Courtney — Thu, 25 Jul 2013 23:43:28 GMT

You need to decide if you want a crippled bird leading a life of captivity as a pet, or a PTS. i agree crows make potentially good pets, and am slightly uncomfortable about euthanasia out of hand. But I am also uncomfortable about inflicting veterinary care and human interference on wild animals that neither ask for it nor appreciate it.

the real question in my eyes, which has not been answered , is what is the likely problem, and is it something that can be fixed, allowing this bird to lead a normal life?

there are some common angular deformities in the legs of birds of various species, they tend to be developmental but of unknown aetiology. bluntly, to straighten these legs you need some sort of intervention, surgical i imagine would be nearly impossible, splinting perhaps , depending on severity? Likely to be a prolonged process, then you have an imprinted bird doomed to a life as a pet.

Do you have someone who would be willing to take this bird on? If you feel on balance, that welfare is served by treatment then fair enough. If not then finish quickly what nature was taking her time over....

Re: Young crow with bendy legs

Michael Woodhouse — Thu, 25 Jul 2013 19:00:36 GMT

I'd elongate the neck.

Re: Young crow with bendy legs

Noweia — Thu, 25 Jul 2013 18:24:11 GMT

I had one of these last year, it was healthy enough from the outside but when I radiographed it, it had marked arthritic change in all limb joints. I made it 'shoes' out of waterproof card to straighten the feet, which worked (even though I had to keep replacing them as it pulled them off). I kept it as it seemed to be flapping and moving well, didn't seem bothered by the limb problem, but it never flew very far and died in December.

Re: Young crow with bendy legs

mariette asselbergs — Thu, 25 Jul 2013 17:09:32 GMT

Why? Crows make nice pets and sofar it is eating and behaving very well.

Mariette

Re: Young crow with bendy legs

Clive Ansell — Thu, 25 Jul 2013 16:28:02 GMT

PTS?

Re: Young crow with bendy legs

Sarah Keir — Thu, 25 Jul 2013 16:15:06 GMT

Blue juice deficiency?