1 Day old deformed and/or injured chick

[Staledemon]

This little chick was the last to hatch, and is about 18-24 hours younger than its siblings. It had difficulty getting out of the egg because it was coming out sideways, left wing first, and was trying to push out without very much zipping, it had a few eratic looking chips, So i ended up giving it some assistance consisting of: clearing most of the shell at the large end away, Some of the outer membrane, and dampening the inner membrane (which no longer had any blood vessels in it) There are a few unfortunate things going on with it:
1. Its feet are curved backward, I'm guessing this was part of the hatching problem, perhaps its feet were curved up by its head. They do not appear to grip or curl at the toes.
2. It looks like there is a broken bone in one of its feet, check out following pics
3. It remained on it's right side for a long period after hatching, it did not have the strength on that side to lift it's body, I'm not sure if this is what caused limited mobility of its right side or if the limited mobility of its right side caused it to stay on that side
4. As mentioned above, limited mobility of right side, though wing movement appears to be getting better. It cannot stand on both legs, it simply kicks and pushes with left leg. Right now I have it nested in a dry washcloth to keep it upright
5. Very week and tired, cannot keep its eyes open or head up for very long, however it is chirping often and loud
6. Still has a red lump in the umbilical(?) area that is veiny
7. I cannot feather sex it because those feathers appear to be non-existance. Its wings are all fluff
8. its skin is very red

Lump in umbilical region (also look at its curved foot)
Red belly and umbilical lump
Is that white and inflamed looking spot on its foot a broken bone?

Curved feet

Red skin on wing

I know most people will say to put it out of its misery, but it just seems to have so much fight in it!
I have been trying to get it to eat and drink, I know that's not necessary, but I figure in most animals if they eat and drink then the usually will be ok. No luck with either as of yet (again it is early) I did make up some of the electrolyte water suggested in the Hatching Eggs 101 of this site, and have been trying to feed it that with some success, though sometimes it sounds like the chick gets it down the wrong tube and has very gurgly chirps.
Any recommendations?

 

[Eggcessive]

With hatching you will see this sort of thing often. It's always heartbreaking to watch when they can't get out of the shell, but these problems are the reasons. When I have one like this I give it a couple of days of TLC to see if it can survive, then I put them down with the vinegar/baking soda method. Give it PolyViSol baby vitamins 1 or 2 drops daily, continue the electrolytes, dip it's beak into food and water, etc. The washcloth chair sounds good, and you can try putting it into a small teacup or sugar bowl to help it exercise it's leg muscles to stand. If they can't stand in the end, they won't do well. I hope your chick makes it.

 

[mshuntjump]

Just give the little one a chance. Probably still just very exhausted from pipping. He does still have a tiny bit of yolk sac still visible, so what you need to do is wrap the chick in a cloth and put it back in the incubator to let it absorb the rest of the sac. Just wait it out, dip his beak in water just to get some fluids in his system, when he starts trying to walk, just watch him and see if it looks normal. I wouldn't put him down unless he can't eat/drink, or walk by himself. Good luck.

 

[Staledemon]

when he starts trying to walk, just watch him and see if it looks normal.

At the moment he/she cannot walk, it only has use of its left leg so it just spins around in circles.
I will definitely wait it out and see if it does gain movement in its right leg as well.
Thank you

 

[Staledemon]

Thank you, that teacup/bowl idea is brilliant. I'll give it another half day - full day of rest and then give that a shot.

 

[mshuntjump]

Immobilize the left leg( cast or tape it), so the chick will have no choice but to use the right leg and gain strength in it. When the leg looks equal in strength as the left did, untape the other leg so he can use them both. Hope this helps.

 

[mshuntjump]

ONLY do the teacup, water bowl method IF the chick's umbilical cord is dried and healed.

 

[chickenlife01]

Man I hate it for you! I know how that feels... incubation sometimes comes with heartache. I'd definitely try vitamins, keep it warm, keep it somewhere quiet so it can get rested, and also try to know when it's right to give up. I have the same problem, and I know it hurts to hear, but usually the ones that can't walk right within 24 or so hours never learn to walk and it costs them their life later. Killing an animal, especially a baby, is extremely difficult for me but it helps to know that I have other fluffy butt chicks to care for and love. Good luck and happy hatching!




P.S. If you need some methods of culling the baby, just ask. I've had to do plenty of that! /:

 

[Egg Yolk]

This is the MOST common thing of deformities when chicks hatch. I had a chick hatch that couldnt walk because its left foot was clubbed and its neck was very far left because its spine was a bit deformed. We fought for her so hard. We gave her food and water every 2 hours because she couldnt walk and when she tried to walk she fell down because her neck was so crooked. Now she is 10 weeks old healthy and straight up and down because I worked with her.

All I can say is just don't loose hope. My dad even said she wasn't going to live but I put the time into that chick.

You said yours has fight? Well thats the most important thing there is because they want to live.

 

[casportpony]

You might find some useful info here:
https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry

-Kathy