Guinea Keet Recovering From Slipped Tendon

Our neighbor gave us some day old baby keets yesterday, and I noticed that one of them is having a hard time getting around. I thought she was just weak from hatching, so I gave her some sugar and ACV water a couple of times with a dropper since I didn't have any nutri drench laying around. I got some nutri drench this morning and gave her a few drops of that along with some electrolytes, probiotics, and ACV that I've been giving her with a dropper every few hours. She pecks at the food that's on the bottom of the brooder, and poops now, but has a hard time getting around. She has been hobbling around on one foot, and holds the other one up. Her feet look normal to me, so I'm wondering why she's having a hard time, and what else I could do to help her. Thoughts?

She was drinking on her own this morning, but she really try's not to use that one foot and stumbles around. :/

This is my creative divider. She can get to the same waterer.



I'll have to move them to a bigger brooder soon.

So I did some research and looked at her foot again and found out that she has a slipped tendon. We took her to the vet Monday, and a slipped tendon is exactly what she has. There were two options: tape the tendon over, or surgery. Surgery would have costed $300, and there was only a 50% chance that it would work. And to anesthetize such a small bird can be dangerous. We decided that it wasn't worth the risk, and it was too expensive. Usually just taping it over doesn't work, but since she was only 2 days old, her tendon was easier to move over. It's hard to treat older birds with slipped tendon, if at all.

The tendon does not stay in place on its own; it has to be held by the piece of tape until it stays in place and she starts walking again. The veterinarian straightened her leg and pushed the tendon over gently to the left to align it, then put the tape to the right of her leg pulling gently to the left so the tendon stays in place. The tape has to be replaced the same way every few days, and wrapped as tight as you would put a band aid on yourself. If the leg starts swelling, it's too tight.

She has gotten used to walking and can now put her foot on the ground, but still puts most of her weight on her good foot and not quite in the right position. She walks with a limp, but gets around okay. It will take 2 weeks or more for it to heal properly. I have to help her get stronger by making her stand in the correct position for as long as she can 3 or more times a day. A "chick sling" can also help straighten her leg out. I just made her one out of a small plastic container with a wash cloth fastened with a rubber band that has two leg holes. I tape her legs together about an inch apart to keep her from escaping. It's important that the legs don't touch the ground. I only put her in it at night, then let her out during the day to eat and drink and get stronger on her foot.

I have her divided in the brooder with a small bird cage without the base or top so that she doesn't get trampled by the other keets or deprived of food and water. She can get away from the lamp if she wants. I sprinkle some food on the paper towels so she can eat, and tied the sliding bird cage food door open and put the waterer there so she can share the same one that the rest of the keets use. I keep her in the furthest corner of her small sectioned space when she's in the sling at night so she doesn't get too hot.

Slipped tendon:



Normal tendon: