"Texas" Asks:
I
had two chicks hatch yesterday. They were local eggs and I
kept the humidity much higher than my first two tries at incubating. The first
one hatched at the end of day 20. It had some of the egg white still in the
eggshell. In fact, it carried around a little bit of shell after it hatched.
The second hatched on day 21 and had much less of the white.
I
left the two in the incubator overnight. I kind of thought chick #2 had a leg
problem, but wasn't completely sure until this morning. Here are some pictures.
I am not sure if this is spraddle/splay leg or a slipped tendon. I have tried
to pull the tendon back into place, but it doesn't seem to give. I am putting
pressure on it until the chick squeaks.
In
the "natural" position.
The
leg that is not in the correct position.
("Texas" then carefully followed directions for correction of Splay / Spraddle
Leg, making a brace from a band-aid.)
Chrissy in CA Writes:
Is this baby chick getting around/up walking, using the bad leg and it's foot correctly yet?
If there is no improvement within a couple of days with the brace/hobble on, I have a different idea on what the leg issue could be...
"Texas" Replies:
Would love to hear what you think might be going on. It is not really walking or putting pressure on the foot. The leg is straightened out now, but it doesn't grasp with the foot.
Chrissy in CA Writes:
I was hoping the chick had improved and was zipping around the
brooder tripping over it's hobble/brace, by now. I hate being the bearer of bad
news...
Judging by how the entire leg looks twisted to me, my suspicion is a
rotated femur (which is a deformity, not an injury).
While I am far from a hatching expert, I have incubated a lot
of eggs (Guinea, Turkey, Quail, Silkie), hatched out well over 1700 birds... so
I've run the gamut of incubator issues and hatcher injuries etc but in my experience with
splayed leg (or legs), the leg doesn't turn out from the body. Normally
splayed legs are the result of an injury cause by slipping/poor footing which
results in a wobbled out/stretched out joint socket that lets the leg slide out
from under the body to the side, no rotation of the entire leg is involved.
Usually within a couple hours of being braced/hobbled (and the chick or keet
has gotten used to the hobble) the leg is used normally, with no favoring, no
pain.
The chick is most likely not grasping with that foot because the
femur rotation and tendon deformity are causing it considerable pain. Hopefully
I am wrong, but as I mentioned splayed leg is a pretty quick fix if noticed and
the legs are braced/hobbled soon enough... which in my opinion you did.
Sadly, Texas did have to
cull this chick as a result of its rotated femur. Our sincere Thanks goes to "Texas" and Chrissy in CA for sharing this learning experience with us!
*
well done! This is very important information to have available to those new to hatching
ReplyDeleteYes - thanks to all who participated to make this post. As Tom commented, it is important information and helps us to use the clues to figure out more accurately what the problem may be.
ReplyDeleteThe experience shared here is invaluable - as always.
LM
Great information! I have never run accross this issue with chicks. I now know if I ever do what the situation is and I can use the correct cull measures ASAP.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing a hard decision making process of correctly assessing an injured chick.
Vicki
The thing with this chick is that the leg was malformed. It's probable that both legs were not formed properly. I guess I will never know what caused this, but it sure was a good learning experience.
ReplyDeleteNice blog Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteHatcher Incubators
very helpful, thanks, solved my mystery chick leg problem.
ReplyDeleteI think my 2 day old chick has the same problem the mother keeps giving her a nudge to get up should I take the little one out ? I dont have a incubator either
ReplyDeleteYes - If there are other chicks under the mother, the mother will soon abandon it when she takes the others off the nest. I would take it and put it in a box in your house. Put a heat lamp over it - they're not too expensive and pretty much all farm stores carry them.
DeleteAssess the problem - does it look like the joints are just all loose and just need time? If so, try the taping method for a few days. If the joints actually look deformed, then culling the chick is the best option.
I'm sorry your chick is having trouble and wish you lots of luck!
i have a chick that appears to have the leg twisted IN not out....could this be the same problem?
ReplyDeleteSadly this sounds like a very similar birth defect to the one discussed above. :(
DeleteI made a hobble brace in accordance with your instruction here, and also made two pads for the feet as the toes looked to be twisted. I carefully straightened the toes and adhered them in position of a piece of bandaid. I too another piece and put it on top of the foot, and allowed them to bond to each other. I used "cloth type" bandaids so that they could get some traction walking on the white paper towels. QUESTION...How long should this hoble brace be left in place?
ReplyDeleteIn normal cases of spraddle leg, the brace needs to stay on for at least 2 days (48 hours). Then gently remove it and place the chick on a non-slippery surface to see how it does. While it may not be able to walk right away, as long as the legs don't become splayed again, let it start working its muscles and reconditioning those legs. In most cases chicks do well after that. In some cases the brace must be put back on for another 48 hours. Hopefully your chick will be just fine after round 1! Let us know!
DeleteThanks for the info. So far, it seems to be completely normal. The chick had a lot of difficulty initially, and I took a small Plastic jar (about 3" in diameter cut off the top half which left a container about 3" tall and taped it to one corner of the inside of the box. I placed the bird in the container to see what would happen. This forced the bird to keep his feet underneath him and he could stand up, or sit down, which forced him to exercised the affected muscles in his legs. After about 4 hours, he could push himself out of the jar and began to adapt to his new prosthetic. By the end of the day, I released him to be with the rest of his siblings and24 hours later, he is doing just great. Balance is good, and movement normal. Still just slightly wobbly, but I expect that will improve in time. Thanks for your help. If you would like a pic of the jar device, I would be happy to send one.
ReplyDeleteI'd really enjoy seeing a picture of the jar! If you'd like, you can email it to shabbychicken@hotmail.com
DeleteIt is on the way!
ReplyDeleteThis poult is doing wonderfully! Took his hobble brace off yesterday and he can run with the best of them! Two of my poults had toes that were not forming well and I was afraid they would suffer from bumblefoot. I took a bandaid of fabric and cut off a small piece of the tape. I spread the toes to what appeared to be a natural position and stuck them to the tape. I then took another piece of tape and placed it on top of the foot adhering the two pieces together where possible. After about 5 days, I took the tape off the feet and the toes were naturally spread and the poults could walkwonderfully!
ReplyDeleteI am hatching guinea fowl in an incubator for my boss, Not knowing anything about them. 3 hatched with bad legs. They aren't able to stand. I thought it was sprayed leg, I put braces on them. They aren't standing up though, the legs are just out behind the chicks while they are laying on their bellies. It has been more than 1 day that they have been wearing the braces, and they still aren't standing. I try to stand them up, but they just fling their head back so they fall over and are laying down again. I'm not sure what to do. I hate to put them down, but I think that might be the best option.
ReplyDeleteMany chicks and keets don't stand well with braces on their legs. Make sure they have access to feed and water and give them a few more days.
DeletePoly-Vi-Sol infant vitamins (for human babies) can be given also to insure they are getting enough vitamins.
If they haven't improved after 4 days, then they should be culled... but many youngsters DO improve with splints and vitamins.
Let us know what happens!