4 week old chick with leg problem

[SimonM]

Hi to everyone,
I'm new to the forum, but have been a regular visitor to the site over the past year.
We have a few bantam chickens and have had a lot of problems with predators and insects killing off our young (mostly dogs, cats, snakes, and ants - the ants are the most difficult to keep out).

This time, we decided to take 2 of the eggs and hatch them in an incubator in the hope of giving them a head start. Only 1 hatched, but she (we assume female) has developed really well inside the house.

We had not noticed any leg problems until just over a week ago when we observed her left leg appeared to be weak and showing signs of splaying. The hip join looks loose but there are no signs of injury (redness, swelling etc)
The chick does not show any signs of discomfort and, although wobbly, does not appear to have slowed down much mobility-wise.

We have tried using a short length of plastic drinking straw and a rubber band to brace the leg. This aided her walking for a while, but, after removing the brace a few days later, she doesn't appear to have improved.

I've given her vitamin supplements in her drinking water and finely crushed eggshell in her food. Her appetite is amazing!

I've attached 2 short videos to show her walking. When she sits and sleeps, she tends to have the effected leg out to the side, which I'm sure does not help her condition. To aid this, I've cupped my hand and supported her body while she slept in my hand, but obviously I cannot do this all the time. When doing this, I've tried to keep her legs together under her body. She seems to like this position and is happy to sleep in my hand.

We are in Thailand and one of the local elders has suggested (Thai traditional method) using the leaf of a certain type of plant to wrap the legs in a similar way to how we treated her for splayed leg. I'm ok to try bracing the leg again, but fear I could be making matters worse if splayed leg is not the issue here.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I am desperate to help this little chick.


Thank you in advance.

 

[Saaniya]

Hi to everyone,
I'm new to the forum, but have been a regular visitor to the site over the past year.
We have a few bantam chickens and have had a lot of problems with predators and insects killing off our young (mostly dogs, cats, snakes, and ants - the ants are the most difficult to keep out).

This time, we decided to take 2 of the eggs and hatch them in an incubator in the hope of giving them a head start. Only 1 hatched, but she (we assume female) has developed really well inside the house.

We had not noticed any leg problems until just over a week ago when we observed her left leg appeared to be weak and showing signs of splaying. The hip join looks loose but there are no signs of injury (redness, swelling etc)
The chick does not show any signs of discomfort and, although wobbly, does not appear to have slowed down much mobility-wise.

We have tried using a short length of plastic drinking straw and a rubber band to brace the leg. This aided her walking for a while, but, after removing the brace a few days later, she doesn't appear to have improved.

I've given her vitamin supplements in her drinking water and finely crushed eggshell in her food. Her appetite is amazing!

I've attached 2 short videos to show her walking. When she sits and sleeps, she tends to have the effected leg out to the side, which I'm sure does not help her condition. To aid this, I've cupped my hand and supported her body while she slept in my hand, but obviously I cannot do this all the time. When doing this, I've tried to keep her legs together under her body. She seems to like this position and is happy to sleep in my hand.

We are in Thailand and one of the local elders has suggested (Thai traditional method) using the leaf of a certain type of plant to wrap the legs in a similar way to how we treated her for splayed leg. I'm ok to try bracing the leg again, but fear I could be making matters worse if splayed leg is not the issue here.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I am desperate to help this little chick.


Thank you in advance.

Hello there!
Welcome in the BYC
Glad you come


Okay the thing is u observed it earlier so we can treat it

First get some bandage or vetwrap and apply like the pic I'm.attaching

Second buy some chicken Multivitamin make sure it contains all vitamin give 0.1 daily for month

Give boiled eggs once a day
And regular starter feed

 

[SimonM]

Hello there!
Welcome in the BYC
Glad you come


Okay the thing is u observed it earlier so we can treat it

First get some bandage or vetwrap and apply like the pic I'm.attaching

Second buy some chicken Multivitamin make sure it contains all vitamin give 0.1 daily for month

Give boiled eggs once a day
And regular starter feed

Thank you so much for the reply,
I've used a short strip of bandage and bound the legs as per your picture. This is similar to how I'd braced them with the straw, except I had the brace above the knee joint.

I'll get more vitamins in the morning as the one I'm using is mainly vitamin B, which I had read was best for leg problems.

How long should I leave the bandage on?

 

[Saaniya]

Thank you so much for the reply,
I've used a short strip of bandage and bound the legs as per your picture. This is similar to how I'd braced them with the straw, except I had the brace above the knee joint.

I'll get more vitamins in the morning as the one I'm using is mainly vitamin B, which I had read was best for leg problems.

How long should I leave the bandage on?

Yes, B Vitamin are best for leg
Although u can give some crushed almond it's a good sorce of vitamin E

As I mentioned boiled egg it is high protein so her leg get power to stable

Regarding bandage I will keep monitor change daily meanwhile changing it u will see how his improvement going on

I will keep give him.bandage till he's not able to stand

https://the-chicken-chick.com/spraddle-leg-in-baby-chicks-what-is-it/

 

[SimonM]

Yes, B Vitamin are best for leg
Although u can give some crushed almond it's a good sorce of vitamin E

As I mentioned boiled egg it is high protein so her leg get power to stable

Regarding bandage I will keep monitor change daily meanwhile changing it u will see how his improvement going on

I will keep give him.bandage till he's not able to stand

https://the-chicken-chick.com/spraddle-leg-in-baby-chicks-what-is-it/

My chicks condition appears to be worsening and it's painful to watch. My wife and I bandaged the legs as per the photo (we originally used regular bandage and tape, but then replaced it with vetwrap. We've been giving her vitamin B10 and B12 in her water and crushed almond and crushed eggshells in her regular feed.

She's eating and drinking (and pooping) as though there is nothing wrong with her; a very healthy appetite. But her affected leg looks weaker and she no longer opens up the foot to stand; it claws and buckles beneath her.

For now, I'm keeping her supported on warm cloth to keep the pressure off her leg, and have her food and water in front of her so she can eat and drink as she needs.

I was thinking of trying to assist her in walking by holding her weight on the affected leg as a means of physio. Otherwise, she seems happy to try and fly up to sit on my knee.

Is it normal to see the leg weaken and the chick stand on her ankle when strapped up this way? She is quite a good size chick now and she seems to struggle to hold her own weight when walking.

She still moves her affected leg, but she tends to keep it straight and it looks very flimsy as though the muscles are wasting away.

I am open to any suggestions. The Thai vets are zero help; either they don't treat birds period, or see it as odd that anyone would show such concern. Of all the vets we spoke to yesterday, only 1 was prepared to discuss the problem, and he said it's just inbreeding, nothing you can do........ so we are on our own with this one.

 

[4 Georgia Hens]

Thank you so much for the reply,
I've used a short strip of bandage and bound the legs as per your picture. This is similar to how I'd braced them with the straw, except I had the brace above the knee joint.

I'll get more vitamins in the morning as the one I'm using is mainly vitamin B, which I had read was best for leg problems.

How long should I leave the bandage on?

I recommend to continuing the use of the straw and bandage. I have had 5 splay legged chicks at one time and we tried out the vetwrap method. It was ineffective. The drinking straw works so much better!

 

[Saaniya]

My chicks condition appears to be worsening and it's painful to watch. My wife and I bandaged the legs as per the photo (we originally used regular bandage and tape, but then replaced it with vetwrap. We've been giving her vitamin B10 and B12 in her water and crushed almond and crushed eggshells in her regular feed.

She's eating and drinking (and pooping) as though there is nothing wrong with her; a very healthy appetite. But her affected leg looks weaker and she no longer opens up the foot to stand; it claws and buckles beneath her.

For now, I'm keeping her supported on warm cloth to keep the pressure off her leg, and have her food and water in front of her so she can eat and drink as she needs.

I was thinking of trying to assist her in walking by holding her weight on the affected leg as a means of physio. Otherwise, she seems happy to try and fly up to sit on my knee.

Is it normal to see the leg weaken and the chick stand on her ankle when strapped up this way? She is quite a good size chick now and she seems to struggle to hold her own weight when walking.

She still moves her affected leg, but she tends to keep it straight and it looks very flimsy as though the muscles are wasting away.

I am open to any suggestions. The Thai vets are zero help; either they don't treat birds period, or see it as odd that anyone would show such concern. Of all the vets we spoke to yesterday, only 1 was prepared to discuss the problem, and he said it's just inbreeding, nothing you can do........ so we are on our own with this one.

Maybe the chick.have deformation of leg I'm tagging.more.knowledgeable users don't worry


@Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive
@casportpony

 

[Saaniya]

My chicks condition appears to be worsening and it's painful to watch. My wife and I bandaged the legs as per the photo (we originally used regular bandage and tape, but then replaced it with vetwrap. We've been giving her vitamin B10 and B12 in her water and crushed almond and crushed eggshells in her regular feed.

She's eating and drinking (and pooping) as though there is nothing wrong with her; a very healthy appetite. But her affected leg looks weaker and she no longer opens up the foot to stand; it claws and buckles beneath her.

For now, I'm keeping her supported on warm cloth to keep the pressure off her leg, and have her food and water in front of her so she can eat and drink as she needs.

I was thinking of trying to assist her in walking by holding her weight on the affected leg as a means of physio. Otherwise, she seems happy to try and fly up to sit on my knee.

Is it normal to see the leg weaken and the chick stand on her ankle when strapped up this way? She is quite a good size chick now and she seems to struggle to hold her own weight when walking.

She still moves her affected leg, but she tends to keep it straight and it looks very flimsy as though the muscles are wasting away.

I am open to any suggestions. The Thai vets are zero help; either they don't treat birds period, or see it as odd that anyone would show such concern. Of all the vets we spoke to yesterday, only 1 was prepared to discuss the problem, and he said it's just inbreeding, nothing you can do........ so we are on our own with this one.

U.didnt find a vitamin which contains.all vitamin.givinb just 10&12 maybe not enough?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

We've been giving her vitamin B10 and B12 in her water and crushed almond and crushed eggshells in her regular feed.

Just adorable!
What does the hock/knee feel like? Compare it to the other leg.

I want to lean toward this being slipped tendon, but could be wrong.
@casportpony @WVduckchick what do you ladies think?

Can you find B-Complex vitamins that has B2 (Riboflavin)? Riboflavin is used for leg health. A little crushed egg shell can give calcium, but if she is eating a balanced poultry feed, then that should supply all the calcium a growing chick needs. At 4 weeks she does not need excess calcium.

Instructions for treating slipped tendon along with making a chick chair for her are in the following link. Slipped tendon is very hard to fix from what I understand.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/peachick-with-slipped-tendon.1092979/

 

[Eggcessive]

Does your vitamin have riboflavin (vitamin B2) on the label? I would give her riboflavin (just a small amount) and see if it improves. How old is the chick now? There could be an injury in the hip or a deformity, but Mareks disease could be a possibility. It usually does not occur often before the age of 5 weeks, but it has been reported as early as 3 weeks. More commonly it occurs in chickens between 2-5 months old. I am not sure that splinting will help, especially since we aren’t sure of the problem. Does she curl the toes under on her left foot? Here is an article on riboflavin deficiency and another on Mareks:
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/6/diseases-of-poultry/217/vitamin-b2-deficiency/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/