2 day old quail with leg problem

[Masaj Mahrhad]

This hatchling’s leg is jutted off to the side and it struggles to walk around with the others. Is this a deformation or a broken leg? Also, is there any hope of saving it?

 

[CliftonQuail]

This hatchling’s leg is jutted off to the side and it struggles to walk around with the others. Is this a deformation or a broken leg? Also, is there any hope of saving it?

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That looks like splay leg to me. The surface the chick is on looks very slick to me. They need to be on a rough surface, such as the blue paper shop towels that are available at auto parts stores and elsewhere. Being on slick plastic can cause splay leg because it's so slick that they can't get any purchase with their feet. Think along the lines of wearing dress shoes in an ice skating rink.

Check this article - https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/treating-splay-leg-in-quail.78692/ by @Nabiki

If you decide to try the hobble method, but don't have the rubber bands available, I've used pipe cleaners in a pinch. I've used the shot glass method with some success.

 

[Masaj Mahrhad]

That looks like splay leg to me. The surface the chick is on looks very slick to me. They need to be on a rough surface, such as the blue paper shop towels that are available at auto parts stores and elsewhere. Being on slick plastic can cause splay leg because it's so slick that they can't get any purchase with their feet. Think along the lines of wearing dress shoes in an ice skating rink.

Check this article - https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/treating-splay-leg-in-quail.78692/ by @Nabiki

If you decide to try the hobble method, but don't have the rubber bands available, I've used pipe cleaners in a pinch. I've used the shot glass method with some success.

That surface in the photograph is actually not my quails’ habitat. Rest assured, they are all walking on chopped hay right now. I merely used that green gold mining pan as a photographic backdrop so you could see the quail’s leg problem more easily. A yellow chick on yellow hay in a photograph becomes camouflaged and hard to see.

Thanks for the article. I’ll read more into it and get the materials tomorrow after work. It’s bedtime right now.

 

[GemW]

I had one that had splay leg and I tried the shot glass method. But it's legs were kind of splayed back and not as much to the side so it took a nosedive in the shot glass and that didn't work well. This quail had some other issues too, hunched neck and curled toes.

It was honestly too much for me to try to figure out how to fix with my first hatch. I gave it a few short supervised visits to the shot glass foe the first few days. Made sure it could get food and water. And then i left it up to God. The little bugger was walking fine with straight toes in about 4 days

 

[CliftonQuail]

I had one that had splay leg and I tried the shot glass method. But it's legs were kind of splayed back and not as much to the side so it took a nosedive in the shot glass and that didn't work well. This quail had some other issues too, hunched neck and curled toes.

It was honestly too much for me to try to figure out how to fix with my first hatch. I gave it a few short supervised visits to the shot glass foe the first few days. Made sure it could get food and water. And then i left it up to God. The little bugger was walking fine with straight toes in about 4 days

In a couple of cases, I had birds that were borderline splay leg and couldn't seem to get a grip even on the blue shop towels. I put a piece of astroturf in the brooder and put them on that. I sprinkled a little food near them and made sure to give them some water every hour or so. Soon enough, I couldn't tell which were which.

 

[Kiki]

This hatchling’s leg is jutted off to the side and it struggles to walk around with the others. Is this a deformation or a broken leg? Also, is there any hope of saving it?

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Poor thing. Is ending it's suffering an option for you?

 

[GemW]

In a couple of cases, I had birds that were borderline splay leg and couldn't seem to get a grip even on the blue shop towels. I put a piece of astroturf in the brooder and put them on that. I sprinkled a little food near them and made sure to give them some water every hour or so. Soon enough, I couldn't tell which were which.

Yeah I managed to fix everything except the poor things hunch back. Ended up having to cull it anyways. It was our last hatchling and had a rough time, we helped it hatch. Lesson learned there!

 

[Masaj Mahrhad]

Poor thing. Is ending it's suffering an option for you?

Only as a worst case scenario. I'll keep trying.

 

[Masaj Mahrhad]

So I'm gonna try the shot glass method on this one. How long do I keep it in the shot glass?

 

[Nabiki]

So I'm gonna try the shot glass method on this one. How long do I keep it in the shot glass?

I would keep it in for an hour, give it a 10 minute break for food and drink, then put it back in. If you don't see improvement within 12 hours, it's probably not going to improve. If this method is going to work, it usually works within 24 hours.