Mineral Content of Tibiae from Chicks with Slipped Tendon

Abstract

AT TIMES the occurrence of slipped tendon or hock disease in growing chicks has caused the commercial poultryman troublesome losses. This deformity is most prevalent in rapidly growing chicks and ordinarily it is largely confined to the males. The deformity is characterized by a subluxation of the leg bones. In very mild cases one leg, almost always the right leg, is slightly bowed at the hock joint. In more pronounced cases the leg is very “crooked” owing to the Achilles tendon slipping from the groove formed by the condyles of the tibia and pulling the leg out of shape. Very frequently both legs are affected and often the “bowing” of the legs is so great that, when a two or three pound chick is standing, the hock joints may be three or four inches apart even though the feet are touching. In extreme instances the slipped tendon may so twist .