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

[RoyalChick]

As the vet advised I took the bandage off and inspected her foot today. The toes are no longer stuck in curled up position, but it seems that she is basicaly paralysed. I am giving her lots of vitamin B complex supplement and an extra does of B-2 which is apparently the key one but there seems no improvement.
I managed to re-bandage her single handed. I don't know if that reflects that she is getting weak and couldn't fight me, or that she is easily distracted by mealy worms.
I have made an appointment with the vet for next week so she can assess and I fear I may need to make the decision to euthanize her at that stage. I do not think she is in pain, but her quality of life is beginning to suffer because she just cannot keep up with the others or what she wants to do. To watch her try and scratch in the bedding and just fall over brings me to tears each time I see it.
She is beginning to be less active.
Fortunately nobody is picking on her, but it is still pretty sad to watch.
Hoping for a miracle here.

 

[Kris5902]

Can you post a video of her? With Hoppy I used a chicken sling, supported her body with one hand and hand fed her to get her walking again. Also without any weight on the legs using gentle movements in a walking motion. But she was an adult when she sustained her injury. This is the same thing essentially that I am currently doing with one of my meat girls. With a few hours of daily handling everyday they settle down relatively quickly, and realize your not going to harm them.

 

[RoyalChick]

Can you post a video of her? With Hoppy I used a chicken sling, supported her body with one hand and hand fed her to get her walking again. Also without any weight on the legs using gentle movements in a walking motion. But she was an adult when she sustained her injury. This is the same thing essentially that I am currently doing with one of my meat girls. With a few hours of daily handling everyday they settle down relatively quickly, and realize your not going to harm them.

I will try for video. It is hard to grab. I tried a sling but she was really unhappy. She likes to be with her brooder buddies. Maybe when they leave her I could try.
I have strapped her into a boot that creates the 90 degree angle in her foot for a standing position. The thing is she gets so unhappy when she can’t join the other two when the jump up on a perch for example.

 

[RoyalChick]

Can you post a video of her? With Hoppy I used a chicken sling, supported her body with one hand and hand fed her to get her walking again. Also without any weight on the legs using gentle movements in a walking motion. But she was an adult when she sustained her injury. This is the same thing essentially that I am currently doing with one of my meat girls. With a few hours of daily handling everyday they settle down relatively quickly, and realize your not going to harm them.

Here you go @Kris5902, I got a couple of videos. One without her leg strapping. She is not gripping the edge of the cardboard, she cannot straighten her own toes to get the foot up off the edge.
And one with her strapping on.
Also a photo of when I undid the bandages. She holds her leg straight and forward like that.

 

[RoyalChick]

And this is why I think she isn’t living her best chicken life.

 

[azygous]

A question - is the paralyzed leg flexible or stiff at the joints? Does it appear to cause pain if you try to manipulate the leg?

 

[RoyalChick]

A question - is the paralyzed leg flexible or stiff at the joints? Does it appear to cause pain if you try to manipulate the leg?

Flexible not stiff. And I don’t think it causes pain. I moved it around a lot taking off the bandage and then putting a new bandage on and she was very easily distracted by a meal worm. I think if I caused her pain she would not have been grabbing the meal worm and would have tensed up or something.
It feels like it is just floppy and paralyzed. But as you can see in the video her upper leg - say her hip - seems to be working as she does use the leg to get about. Just not below the hock.
The vet said nothing was broken or displaced.

 

[pennyJo1960]

How well does she move now do the toes still curl if the boot is not on?

 

[RoyalChick]

If I take the boot off and leave the toes straight they stay straight. But if she tries to walk she curls them up again and walks on her knuckles.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Have you tried vita K?