Not Taking the Time to Search the Threads Tonight, Think Our Barred Rock Has Splayed Legs

[Lazarus718]

Going to be a quick introduction for you all...our first six chicks were purchased from two separate local feed stores. This girl was from the first batch of four and we have had her and her sisters for eight days now making them twelve days old. I found Molly, my Barred Rock, pushed up against the glass of the 20 gallon aquarium when I got home from work tonight with her eyes closed like she was sleeping while all the other chicks were roaming around actively. I quickly opened the screen on the top and woke her and found that she couldn't stand up. My guess is she wasn't able to get to the feed or the water for the whole day so my wife grabbed an extra box we had in the garage and put bedding in it and we quickly moved her to it along with a saucer of water and one of feed. She started eating and drinking right away.

I was concerned that her vent was plugged but when I went to check she let one go so that was okay...no blood and normal. Her right leg seems to be the stronger of the two and her left splays out beside her when she tries to stand. We decided to use some gauze and tie the two legs together with some space in between after some debate. The first attempt at bandaging failed and she got it loose so we tried to do a better job of wrapping an hour or so later. I also moved one of her sisters over to the recovery box with her so she wouldn't get so lonely...I picked the calmest one which is the Ameraucana "Rogue" and she is helping to keep her some company. We'll see how the recovery goes in the morning, hopefully the tie holds this time and my favorite of the chicks is on her way to walking again tomorrow.

If anyone has had a similar experience please share and we'll get you some pics once I am able to actually post them to the site (thanks admin).

 

[Lazarus718]

Okay, now I can get you all a pic...here she is, poor Molly bird. This was the first tape job.

 

[Feanor]

Congrats on being a caring chicken owner and noticing the problem soon enough to do something about it. I had a bird with a slipped hock joint and I was afraid she wouldn't make it, but isolation and regularly excercising it really proved to help. Her leg grew back a bit funny but she has no mobility problems. Hopefully with your bird she'll have a full recovery. And I must say she looks enormous in the picture! Unless you just have really small hands lol anyway the splay looks great and I'm sure she'll be hoping around in no time.

 

[Lazarus718]

Thank you for taking the time to visit the thread...those are my wife's hands, she should have been a piano player. Mine are more of the thick farmer type since I get that from my grandfather. This is my favorite bird of the group and it is the only one that I personally selected from the feed store...I actually made the guy drop the one's that he was picking and grab her. I know her only chance to survive is to walk because we both work full time jobs and are not home all day. When I found her tonight I thought she was going to die but we moved her to the separate box and she is really fighting to eat and to drink water. So as long as she is willing I am not going to give up on her. My wife works in the medical field so it was nice to have her expertise as well as some emergency supplies. We'll see how the tie holds up and I might take the day off of work tomorrow to make sure she can get to her water.

 

[Sunflowergirl]

Stopped by and looks like you are doing a great job taking care of Molly! How is she doing today?
Oh, and

!!!

 

[Nsampsel]

Since you are using a glass aquarium for a brooder, you will really want to watch the rest of the birds for leg problems as well. Glass floors are extremely slippery & is most likely the cause of the splayed legs. If you are going to continue to use the aquarium make sure it has very thick bedding covering the entire bottom. Also, some vitamin/electrolyte mixture will probably help her as well. TSC carries a powder form that is fairly inexpensive (much cheaper than the little packets of "Save-a-Chick") usually located in the chicken care supplies. Other feed/livestock supply stores should have something similar as well. Just ask them what is available. If all else fails, give her a few drops of liquid baby vitamins without iron (poly-vi-sol) a couple times a day. Any pharmacy or store that sells baby supplies should carry it.

 

[Lazarus718]

The aquarium has 2 inches of pine shavings on the floor, we have kept a lot of different animals between the two of us so we knew enough to not have them on a slippery surface. This chick is one from the first feed store and two of the four we got from that shop are just not quite as strong as the others. The two from the other store are very strong birds already and the family that owns it are more involved with their animals so we will be using them in the future. I had already been buying my hay from them but I didn't know they carried chicks in the spring and they weren't open the day we got our first group. Live and learn. As far as Molly is concerned, not much new to report. She has been able to scooch over to her food and water and is eating and drinking well. Her legs are not looking any better though. We changed out the bandage support last night and I am going to give her until next Friday to make some progress with walking. She was one of the favorites of the bunch so that seems like the most I can do for her. We'll see if some more time is all she needs.

 

[Lazarus718]

Went in to check on the chick this morning before leaving for work and to get her fresh water...Molly is walking again!

So the little brace we made for her worked and now it is just a matter of letting her build up her strength over the next couple of days and then she can rejoin her sisters in the main cage. I also started monitoring all of the chicks weights and she is not the runt of the flock, once I get enough data gathered I will post a growth chart of the group, probably once they have started to lay. Thanks for the well wishes all!

 

[Sunflowergirl]

Yea for Molly!!!

 

[Lazarus718]

Yea for Molly!!!

LOL