4 day chick walking on one hock (my first chick), need help

[SouthTXMama]

Hi,

I am a brand new chicken mom! My dad bought me two silkie chicks for Christmas. One is 6 days old and the other 4 days old. The youngest one has a curled foot and after reading several threads on this forum, I have made it a shoe out of bandaids to encourage the foot and toes to straighten out. There seems to be another problem though. Its left leg is extended in front of it and it seems to be placing weight on the hock joint. It looks like there is a scab on the underside of the joint. It is able to hop around but doesn't move as well as the other chick. I've seen threads about slipped achilles tendons, but I am not familiar enough with their anatomy to know if this is the problem. I've gently pinched the area according to the directions I've read, but it doesn't seem to have made a difference.

I've posted pictures here in hopes that someone can help me identify the problem and let me know if there is a solution.

The chicks are in a cardboard box with pine shavings.

Thanks for any help!

 

[SouthTXMama]

Here's an update on my chick and I'd also like to bump my post up in hopes someone might have an idea.

The little chick with the shoe is doing a little better. It is standing as tall as the other chick and is putting more weight on the curled foot. It still holds the leg and foot in front of its body when standing still though. I haven't taken the bandaid off yet, because I ran out of this size bandaid and don't know what to use to replace it. I'm thinking of trying the pipe cleaner shoe method. Anyone have luck with that?

 

[jerseygirl1]

I'm sorry to say, I havebeen in this position, and it has never healed - I had my chick in a sling for three weeks where it thrived very well. The more it ate, the bigger it got to where it just wanted to get out of the sling, unfortunately, I work and cannot work with this. Luckily, my girlfriend took it before I culled it. I think she still has it. In a sling