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

[ManueB]

Oh no, I'm sorry for her! The vitamin does seem the most likely explanation, but as a runner I saw very often that people got injured on one side then get injured on the other because they overcompensated and created some imbalance. That could be another explanation.
Hopefully she will get better as she did already. When are you planning to integrate them with the bigs?

 

[MaryJanet]

Since she recuperated from her first sore leg, I learned that excess vitamin b can have a detrimental affect on proprioception in humans. Thought I'd best mention it in case you prefer to dose cautiously.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Oh no, I'm sorry for her! The vitamin does seem the most likely explanation, but as a runner I saw very often that people got injured on one side then get injured on the other because they overcompensated and created some imbalance. That could be another explanation.

Since she recuperated from her first sore leg, I learned that excess vitamin b can have a detrimental affect on proprioception in humans. Thought I'd best mention it in case you prefer to dose cautiously.

 

[RoyalChick]

Oh no, I'm sorry for her! The vitamin does seem the most likely explanation, but as a runner I saw very often that people got injured on one side then get injured on the other because they overcompensated and created some imbalance. That could be another explanation.
Hopefully she will get better as she did already. When are you planning to integrate them with the bigs?

Integration is a big worry.
The Hooligans have been in the Chicken Palace with the big Princesses for a long time now so everyone is used to each other but have never actually met (except the once when Minnie flew over my head and into the brooder).
My brooder is high up so my babies need to either navigate a series of ramps (the fire escape) or fly to get back up to their brooder from the coop floor. I know that one of Bernadette's sisters is more than capable of that feat but is mainly choosing to stay in the brooder with Bernadette.
I abandoned plans to build a ground level brooder when Bernadette informed me she wasn't a special needs chicken after all, but I may have to start up with that idea again.

Here is a 20 second clip that shows how she is holding her leg strangely - it is her right leg this time - it looks to me like how the left leg started a few weeks ago rather than an overcompensation injury - but who knows!

 

[RoyalChick]

Since she recuperated from her first sore leg, I learned that excess vitamin b can have a detrimental affect on proprioception in humans. Thought I'd best mention it in case you prefer to dose cautiously.

Thanks MJ. Yes, vitamin B-6 (aka pyridoxine) in very high doses can cause ataxia, I didn't know it was specifically related to proprioception issues.
I am giving appropriate maintenance doses (maybe with a slightly heavy hand!) of all vitamins using a livestock vitamin supplement, and then I am adding extra B-2 (aka riboflavin) which seems to be the deficiency that impacts nerve myelination and is specifically associated with 'curled toe' issues in chickens because of demyelination of the sciatic nerve.
I have looked high and low and cannot find any reference to any issue with very high doses of B2, so I am just adding in a wallop of that for good measure.
Obviously I am also watching the other Hooligans as they are drinking the same water.
Hoping she recovers again and in that case I am going to keep her on the vitamins for at least a couple of months.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Integration is a big worry.
The Hooligans have been in the Chicken Palace with the big Princesses for a long time now so everyone is used to each other but have never actually met (except the once when Minnie flew over my head and into the brooder).
My brooder is high up so my babies need to either navigate a series of ramps (the fire escape) or fly to get back up to their brooder from the coop floor. I know that one of Bernadette's sisters is more than capable of that feat but is mainly choosing to stay in the brooder with Bernadette.
I abandoned plans to build a ground level brooder when Bernadette informed me she wasn't a special needs chicken after all, but I may have to start up with that idea again.

Here is a 20 second clip that shows how she is holding her leg strangely - it is her right leg this time - it looks to me like how the left leg started a few weeks ago rather than an overcompensation injury - but who knows!

Yes it does look the same as before. Bootie in order if she doesn't improve quickly? She is almost standing on curled toes again. I wonder if her unwillingness to stand on the left leg and to sit instead indicates weakness in both legs too.

 

[RoyalChick]

Yes it does look the same as before. Bootie in order if she doesn't improve quickly? She is almost standing on curled toes again. I wonder if her unwillingness to stand on the left leg and to sit instead indicates weakness in both legs too.

I have seen her stand on her left leg. But I do think you are right that she has some weakness in both.
So strange.

 

[Marie2020]

The boot is mainly to protect the toes so she doesn't scrape them when she walks on the top of them - but it also serves to hold them straight.

Do you have a picture of this boot?

 

[Marie2020]

I still can't adjust to it being luck because I've spent my whole life taking the availability of vets for granted. There are a few avian vets within a 45 minute drive of my house. It seems really strange that other people don't enjoy that privilege.

It's daunting I can tell you that.

 

[RoyalChick]

Do you have a picture of this boot?

Here you go Marie. I improvised with various plastic corners cut from packaging containers and then I acquired these on Etsy. They are 3-D printed and the guy originally made them for his duck who had an issue with its foot.
I included a teaspoon for size comparison.
At 3 weeks Bernadette got the orange one. The tiny yellow one is for just hatched chicks and they do an even bigger one that looks like it would fit a big turkey (I didn’t get that one!).
I like that they have an opening in the back for her back toe.