Spraddle Leg - Splay Leg Treatment Instructions

Thank you for getting back to me, I am so concerned for this little chick, the bandage fell off her legs this morning and I noticed her legs are not so far apart as they were, I put on new bandage and she is trying to stand up more. She gets so loud I am wondering if it would be okay if I put her with the others, or should I keep her isolated a little while longer?

Re-tape her legs so they are a little further apart than a normal standing position. There is an illustration of this on the Poultry Podiatry page on the website linked in my sig below.

very useful information thank you for posting, this will help me out a lot

needing some advice or suggestions, I took the bandaid off my 2 week chick, they were on for 3 full days, her legs are so much better, the are not doing the splits anymore, but she is not getting up on her legs, she just lays around. She is not making an effort to get up on her legs at all. When I move her close to her water or food she will eat or drink. But she will lay back down and not really move around she does lay on her side which concerns me, What can I do to get her up on her feet and walking like other chicks her age? This is breaking my heart because I do not know what to do.

Can she straighten her legs on her own? If not, the Achilles Tendons in her hock joints may have slipped out of the hock joints, making her unable to stand until the problem is fixed. She would need treatment for that ASAP, if so. There is info on the Poultry Podiatry page.

If she developed splayed leg at birth & only wore hobbles after she was a week old, it may not be possible to really correct her problems. It usually isn't possible, but perhaps specific circumstances would differ.

One treatment to try: Put her in a cup or mug that holds her basically upright. That way, the only way her legs can extend is upwards. As she moves & wriggles, she will exercise those upward-pushing muscles in the right direction for learning to stand.
She should spend most of her time in the cup for a few days. You can line it with paper towels.

I'm wishing you & her the best!

....incubation may have a stronger effect on leg health. The elevated incubation profile caused a high incidence of splayed legs at hatching independently of the strain. Almost 20% of the hatchlings in the elevated incubation profile were affected. Some of the effects of overheating embryos can be observed at hatching as splayed legs. But overheating may also affect endocrine systems, nutrient utilization, body formation and the overall health of chicken and turkey flocks. Then, splayed legs can be an indicator that overheating is occurring and corrections need to be made in the machines or in the hatchery management.

excerpt from>http://www.worldpoultry.net/Breeder...tress-easily-leads-to-splayed-legs-WP009251W/


by the way i have one 3 week old chick with this spraddle leg in my hand right now. I help it to stand each day several times to get strength back in its legs. It has been laying down a lot and has weak legs. It uses both its little wings and legs to scoot itself over to the food and water. It is in with 3 other chicks so they dont bother it.
the spraddle leg on mine didnt show up until week 2, so I am not sure it is a symptom of incubation. The susbtrate is a good one to stand on so that shouldn't have been the problem either. In the bator it was hardware cloth with tiny holes in it and for the first 2 weeks it was sand and now a bed of straw. It is a Ameraucana chick so i hope it overcomes this.
Blessings to all.

....incubation may have a stronger effect on leg health. The elevated incubation profile caused a high incidence of splayed legs at hatching independently of the strain. Almost 20% of the hatchlings in the elevated incubation profile were affected. Some of the effects of overheating embryos can be observed at hatching as splayed legs. But overheating may also affect endocrine systems, nutrient utilization, body formation and the overall health of chicken and turkey flocks. Then, splayed legs can be an indicator that overheating is occurring and corrections need to be made in the machines or in the hatchery management.

excerpt from>http://www.worldpoultry.net/Breeder...tress-easily-leads-to-splayed-legs-WP009251W/


by the way i have one 3 week old chick with this spraddle leg in my hand right now. I help it to stand each day several times to get strength back in its legs. It has been laying down a lot and has weak legs. It uses both its little wings and legs to scoot itself over to the food and water. It is in with 3 other chicks so they dont bother it.
the spraddle leg on mine didnt show up until week 2, so I am not sure it is a symptom of incubation. The susbtrate is a good one to stand on so that shouldn't have been the problem either. In the bator it was hardware cloth with tiny holes in it and for the first 2 weeks it was sand and now a bed of straw. It is a Ameraucana chick so i hope it overcomes this.
Blessings to all.

love the cup idea will try it

....incubation may have a stronger effect on leg health. The elevated incubation profile caused a high incidence of splayed legs at hatching independently of the strain. Almost 20% of the hatchlings in the elevated incubation profile were affected. Some of the effects of overheating embryos can be observed at hatching as splayed legs. But overheating may also affect endocrine systems, nutrient utilization, body formation and the overall health of chicken and turkey flocks. Then, splayed legs can be an indicator that overheating is occurring and corrections need to be made in the machines or in the hatchery management.

excerpt from>http://www.worldpoultry.net/Breeder...tress-easily-leads-to-splayed-legs-WP009251W/


by the way i have one 3 week old chick with this spraddle leg in my hand right now. I help it to stand each day several times to get strength back in its legs. It has been laying down a lot and has weak legs. It uses both its little wings and legs to scoot itself over to the food and water. It is in with 3 other chicks so they dont bother it.
the spraddle leg on mine didnt show up until week 2, so I am not sure it is a symptom of incubation. The susbtrate is a good one to stand on so that shouldn't have been the problem either. In the bator it was hardware cloth with tiny holes in it and for the first 2 weeks it was sand and now a bed of straw. It is a Ameraucana chick so i hope it overcomes this.
Blessings to all.

I think splayed leg pretty much only starts at birth, so I'm wondering if your 3-week-old might have a Slipped Achilles Tendon in one hock, rather than splayed leg. You can read about that on the Poultry Podiatry page on the site linked in my sig.

Found it....actually I think there may be some merrit to this high incubation temp causing this because I am brand new to this and this is only my second bator go round. In my first attempt I had a LF Salmon Faverolle chick come out with the same thing wrong with her leg too. Now this second hatch with this Ameraucana chick. I took notes and my temps were exactly the same both times, as all the folks i asked told me to keep it around 99.9 to 101 F (bator w/fan) and at setting between 35% and 45% humidity and from day 18 to the last day 45% to 65%.
So this time with yet another hatch going I have lowered my temps to 99.5 with humidity the same. We shall see if it makes a difference. I sure hope so. It is so sad to see them struggle while the other chicks are running to and fro and having fun.



I am trying the bandaid approach on this Ameraucana chick and she seems to be able to stand and hop around after only about 20 hours where as before she could only scoot around on her breasts.
Today I took her out of the cup and she stood on her own feet for a bit. She also has been getting over the to the food and water on her own. Her legs must be getting stronger already. Go Chip Go!