Splayed leg, EDIT: twisted tibia

CletikKatt and cktomczik, I hesitate to give too much advice... this was our first experience and we were over our heads - it is all a bit of a blur now. We mostly followed the advice of D C T from this site: http://www.voy.com/194762/. He (or she?) is also the one that suggested that it was "twisted tibia" and not splayed leg. And of course, we read through the various threads here.

We eventually ended up taping the legs close together (so that they were only about 1/8 on an inch apart from each other). We put a small bit of foam between the legs for comfort. We kept the splint on for about 10-12 hours a day and then took it off for the rest of the time (she could walk at this point, just not very well and still with her feet out). Since the chick could not walk or stand at all with the splint, we set up a hammock/sling (see the picture above). We normally put the splint on and put her in the sling around 6pm and basically took shifts making sure she did not wiggle her way into a bad position. Then we let her out of the sling and took off the splint around 6am. This a slightly modified version of what D C T recommended.

Each day, her legs got a little closer together and she began walking a bit better. When she was getting around okay during her time without the splint we put her with 2 other small (and mellow) chicks so she could have some friends and hopefully begin copying their actions (stretching, cleaning, etc). The chick is now able to stand and walk well. She still has difficulty keeping her balance at times and is definitely not as agile as the others - but she has a good quality of life and gets around fine.

My best advice would be to try and get some good pictures/video of the legs and get in touch with D C T - maybe start a thread here as well.

CletickKatt, from the mix of information that I read through, 5 weeks is fairly old to get quick results. It may require more time in the hobble/splint. If the chick is getting around well with the hobble/splint and the water dishes are filled with marbles, etc to prevent drowning - then my hunch would be to just keep at it. Again though, I am no expert and really am just thinking of what I might try.

cktomczik,
2 days is still young, so your chances are pretty good to fix it if it is splayed leg or twisted tibia (based on what I read). I would take some photos as soon as possible to try and get some help determining what the issue might be. I really don't know the difference between splayed leg and twisted tibia. My assumption is that with splayed leg the feet and the leg joints are spread apart (spread eagle): while with twisted tibia, the feet are apart and the leg joints are together (duck footed). Just my assumption. In terms of culling, that is a tough call. There is no way of knowing what is best. My stance is to just do the best you can to make a decision one way or the other and then live with it. That is the best we can do. I will say that though we helped our chick and she gets around fine, she is not the same as the others. She may very well have problems later in life with her legs - or maybe not - hard to tell. It will no doubt take some effort - and you may loose some sleep. There were a few times (when she was just sitting in the sling with her legs taped together) that we wondered if it might be better to cull. Not an easy decision, especially for a softy like me. Again though, 2 days is pretty young still and I know some people have left the hobble/splint on for over a week.

I realize that probably doesn't help all that much. I wish I could help more.

A and J thank you so much you helped me a lot and I just sent some pics on that website. Waiting for a reply, but right now my little guy is just soundly sleeping.

Thanks,
Claire

Anyone know if this is a genetic issue, or something else? I don't want to breed this spraddle leg baby if it's going to infiltrate the flock... but this Marans chick (girl, I think) came from a gorgeous dark egg and I'd like to hatch her babies if it's not going to cause more deformed chicks.

Hello, I was wondering if anybody knows what is most likely wrong with my 8 day old chicks LEFT leg.
I only noticed the issue yesterday due to it walking and standing in a funny way. It stands with the leg jutting out, far from it's body.
The lower leg is twisted, making it look fat due to the thick part being where the thin part should be.
I am guessing it is a twisted tibia?
You can also see and feel what looks like a misplaced tendon, which makes the hock look large, as the tendon is off to the side of the hock. I cannot seem to move the tendon back into place. It does not move much at all.

The leg on the left is the twisted one. It looks fat due to it being the nearly 90 degrees twisted the wrong way, so the fat side of the leg is where the skinny side should be. If you get what I mean.





Leg on the RIGHT (chickens left) is the bad twisted one. It should be turned more INWARDS.
You can see the back claw spur from the FRONT! :






Notice the fat looking hock. There is a tendon running up the side which gives a fat appearance, the other reason it looks fat is due to it being twisted the wrong way (so the fat part of the hock is where the skinny part should be, nearly a 90 degree rotation):


The bent toe is on the other leg (the good leg) I am not sure if I should worry about this just yet as the twisted leg is my priority:






I have better photos at home, but these are the photo I have for now on my phone while I am at work.

I have emailed the famous Poultry Orthopedist at to*****[email protected] - just waiting on a reply...

Hello,

i have a peachick with the same problem, Twisted Tibia. What did he say to do? Night Taping? Are you adding vitamins to the water? I have been reading so much and just want to do everything I can to ensure this little one makes it and is cured. You can e-mail me at [email protected] too.

I got a reply from D C T (friendly poultry orthopedist) about my chicks leg problem...
Here is the reply, as follows:
"The chick's left leg does indeed have a displaced Achilles tendon which can sometimes be very difficult to treat. This is an injury most commonly caused as a chick is hatching and has a hard time kicking loose from the eggshell. Or can be from being stepped on by a larger chicken. This is a problem that always gets worse each day as the chick struggles with the problem. You can see your chick's tendon bulging towards the inside. When you catch this problem on day one of a bird's life you can pop the tendon back in place so that (sometimes) it will remain in place just like a genuine miracle. Or a night in a "chick chair" may be needed to finish the job Unfortunately your chick's leg does look like inflammation has caused swelling which forces the tendon to stay out of place. Perhaps a day or two in a chick chair or a body sling will reduce the swelling and permit tendon to be moved. I can not make any guarantee because each chick is different. Sincerely D C T friendly poultry orthopedist"

What I did:
I tried the chick chair for 8 hours at a time for 2 days, and gave 10mg of aspirin to reduce inflammation. The swelling reduced but it was still impossible to move the tendon back to where it is supposed to be.
I will just see how the chick goes as it grows up, if it looks to struggle too much or be in discomfort with its disability, I will have to cull.