Abandoned baby chick

I need advice on how to care for this baby chick. She was abandoned on my doorstep and something is up with her legs she has like a penguin walk as my dad calls it. I was going to put her in with one of my mother hens the 1 has 4 babies 2 weeks old the 2nd has three 1 and a half week olds and finally one is on a nest would any of them adopt it or should I try and get some more chicks her age? I feel so bad for her she's making the saddest chirps right now she's only a couple days old still covered in baby down only a few feathers on her wings.

OntChickenLady said:

I need advice on how to care for this baby chick. She was abandoned on my doorstep and something is up with her legs she has like a penguin walk as my dad calls it. I was going to put her in with one of my mother hens the 1 has 4 babies 2 weeks old the 2nd has three 1 and a half week olds and finally one is on a nest would any of them adopt it or should I try and get some more chicks her age? I feel so bad for her she's making the saddest chirps right now she's only a couple days old still covered in baby down only a few feathers on her wings.

Click to expand...

Is this a chicken chick or a wild bird chick?
Thanks,
Karen

I would grab a chick from one of the your mama hens and put them in a box with food, water and a heat source until they are ready to join the others... Now for the penguin walk... Look at its les to see if something is stuck between them.?.?

Yes it's a chicken chick and I checked her legs nothing in between them

That's so horrible someone would abandon a chick so young! Good for you for stepping up and trying to help her.

I definitely wouldn't give that chick to any of your mammas who already have chicks. I doubt they would accept her since they already have older chicks in their care. You could do what chickens r life suggested, or you could give her to your free broody, which seems ideal to me. If she can't walk enough to get food and water on her own, though, or if you think other chicks could knock her over, I'd hold off for a few days.

Could you describe her penguin walk a little more? Or take a video? Usually when people say their hen is walking like a penguin (standing up unnaturally straight, tail rocking), they are egg bound, but of course that never happens with chicks.

Are her toes straight? Is she walking normally otherwise (not sliding or stumbling)? Are her feet in normal forward position? My first thought was some kind of Splayed Leg...does this seem like what she has:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/02/spraddle-leg-in-baby-chicks-what-is-it.html

Even without a "diagnosis", there are some things you can do that might help. Sometimes walking funny can be caused by a nutrition deficiency. Do you have a TSC near you? Buy a bottle called Poultry NutriDrench, or if you can't find that, buy one of those cheap Sav-a-Chick electrolyte packets and mix that in her drinking water. With a good chick starter feed, that should clear up any deficiencies. Also, make sure to keep checking for pasty butt.

Do you think it might be splayed leg? Keep us updated, and good luck!

I think she has splayed leg the pictures from the site look exactly like what she's doing only she's not as bad thank goodness I'm going to pick up some stuff at the TSC for her now. Her toes are straight its her legs that she seems to have problems with like she can't keep them under her i'm gonna try and get a video of her walking. She's doing good this morning eating and drinking fine seems to have more energy too.

So I would defiantly give the baby chick a friend!! I rescued a baby peacock and got him/her a austrolorp chick as a friend so he wouldn't be lonely... The poor peachick was crying until I got the chick. I was also thinking it could be splayed leg just like Emma Had said...

OK, splayed leg then! Getting NutriDrench is still a good idea, but I would definitely also make the bandages out of Vetrap like the Chicken Chick describes. The sooner you do so, the more likely her legs can be fixed! If you do that today, the chick should be well enough in a few days to put her in with a broody or a friend.

hopefully the picture shows up ok first time posting from my phone. I got her legs bandaged np lucky I had some vetrap left over from the last time my rooster thought he was a daredevil lol she's doing a lot better she's such a little fighter

You can keep it yourself and take care of it your own. Nobody would want an abandoned baby chick alone. So my best advice is to take care of her and figure out who abandoned it if you can know.