3-week old chick with a bad leg - any advice please

[azygous]

Do you happen to have a large wire dog crate that has a removable floor?

In the past, folks have used the large wire crate as a transition brooder and set it up on bricks or lumber scraps to create a 360 degree access /exit that only the chicks fit under. This set up, with food and water inside, will keep the tykes safe until they figure out the pecking order and learn to stand up to the adult chickens. Our lame chick would be at ground level and would not risk falling from a ramp or struggling to get to safety up a steep ramp.

 

[RoyalChick]

Do you happen to have a large wire dog crate that has a removable floor?

In the past, folks have used the large wire crate as a transition brooder and set it up on bricks or lumber scraps to create a 360 degree access /exit that only the chicks fit under. This set up, with food and water inside, will keep the tykes safe until they figure out the pecking order and learn to stand up to the adult chickens. Our lame chick would be at ground level and would not risk falling from a ramp or struggling to get to safety up a steep ramp.

Yes I do and I had planned to use it in the run as a safe space - but I could set it up in the coop instead - the slope will be an issue but I guess nothing says it has to be straight!
I also have a smaller dog crate so I can set that up in the run and deploy some other hidey holes to supplement.
I might try it on a few 'day trips' before moving them as a new home. They are still going under the heat plate at night and it is still down in the 30s at night. I could move the heat plate out of their current area but that will be a bit of a palaver with extension cords.
I think I can keep them where they are at night for another week maybe. Only Bella is showing real curiosity about the outside world.

 

[Kris5902]

I’m not liking the set of the whole leg… it looks like it is at an off angle, completely at the hock, but that could just be the angle of the videos… it’s hard for me to tell, I’m thinking possible nerve damage in the limb. I would be tempted to try to splint her hock a little as well to hold it in a more natural position. What sort of PT are you doing with her and how is it coming along? (Trouble is definite improving over here, but might not ever be regaining the main flock)

 

[RoyalChick]

I’m not liking the set of the whole leg… it looks like it is at an off angle, completely at the hock, but that could just be the angle of the videos… it’s hard for me to tell, I’m thinking possible nerve damage in the limb. I would be tempted to try to splint her hock a little as well to hold it in a more natural position. What sort of PT are you doing with her and how is it coming along? (Trouble is definite improving over here, but might not ever be regaining the main flock)

I don’t think it is the video angle. I think you are right.
I don’t see any improvement. I am quite distressed about the whole situation - she is so full of life but also so distressed when she can’t jump on a perch with the others. I think any improvement I thought I saw was just her learning and growing. Her toes are as floppy as ever.
I am back thinking euthanasia may be the right course of action. My poor brave Bernadette.
What a mess.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

I don’t think it is the video angle. I think you are right.
I don’t see any improvement. I am quite distressed about the whole situation - she is so full of life but also so distressed when she can’t jump on a perch with the others. I think any improvement I thought I saw was just her learning and growing. Her toes are as floppy as ever.
I am back thinking euthanasia may be the right course of action. My poor brave Bernadette.
What a mess.

First thought is: Would a piece of something level taped on to the perch, like a piece of a board or stiff cardboard covered with grippy material, enable her to hang with her buddies on the perch? Or replace all the perches with something that's more suitable for her disability & bootie - perhaps make them all larger and flat, but you could still place cross-pieces of round dowels so the others can grip those if they want. Also, Bernadette figures things out fast, like she did for how to work with the bootie and use it to her advantage.

My second thought is: Is this something akin to spraddle leg?

 

[pennyJo1960]

Happy Easter! There is no good choice here or right or wrong.

 

[RoyalChick]

Happy Easter! There is no good choice here or right or wrong.

you got that right! That is why it is so hard. I have had animals euthanized before and the choice was always very clear to me.
I am very conflicted about poor Bernadette. That means I will keep going for now. I see the vet on Tuesday and maybe she will have some thoughts.

 

[ManueB]

I'm sorry for you, it is a hard choice. I can't say anything useful about her condition but since she is so young and seems so full of energy, I think you could give yourself some more time to think it over.
Could you postpone the decision for say two weeks?
Unless of course your visit to the vet brings some new and decisive information.

 

[RoyalChick]

I'm sorry for you, it is a hard choice. I can't say anything useful about her condition but since she is so young and seems so full of energy, I think you could give yourself some more time to think it over.
Could you postpone the decision for say two weeks?
Unless of course your visit to the vet brings some new and decisive information.

I thought about delaying the vet visit for that very reason, but I would rather have her input and examination after a full week of treatment with vitamins, splinting and my attempts at physical therapy.
There is nothing forcing me to make the decision just because we are at the vet's office. So I can keep on for a week unless she really thinks it is hopeless.
It is the young and full of energy thing that makes this so hard!
Thanks for following along - it is good to have people around who understand.

 

[Kris5902]

I would ask about the possibility of fusing the hock somehow, or the toes, before euthanasia. If she can get the leg even just stiffened up… and set to a natural angle I think that would be a huge improvement. They don’t need completely full use of both legs to still have a rewarding and full life… she might limp but she’s certainly still full of life and vibrant.