Advice on chick with splayed leg

[Humpty Doo chicken family]

Hi all,

I have a little chick that's 5 days old and he/she has one splayed leg. She was naturally incubated along with 6 other chicks that are very healthy. She had a difficult hatch and is half the size of the others in her clutch. She eats and drinks well but due to her size, difficulty walking and the threat of being trampled I have isolated her. I initially put one of the other chicks in with her but he just tended to knock her over and step on her so I put him back with his mum. I have hobbled her legs (with advice taken from articles from BYC) and she does seem to be standing nice and straight but she's not doing so well with the walking yet. She sometimes falls over and cant get back up. I'm questioning if I'm doing more harm than good for her as it breaks my heart to see her struggling. Will she improve?
Any help or advice from the pro's here would be greatly appreciated..

P.s I have named her/him Forrest. It seemed an apt name given the braces on his legs

 

[rjohns39]

Can you post a pic of her, also give her a little extra vitamin E and protein

 

[Humpty Doo chicken family]

Can you post a pic of her, also give her a little extra vitamin E and protein

Well I woke up this morning and checked her and I'm absolutely amazed at the improvement. She was hopping about with her hobbles on. I took them off for a minute to see if there was any improvement and she stands up straight and walks well without them but her leg is still a just little bit cocked to the side. I will leave her hobbles on for one more day. I'm feeding her some cooked egg yolk mashed up with some oatmeal and she's eating well and looks 100% stronger. Little Forrest is happily hopping around in her box chirping and eating to her hearts content.
I'm so thankful I stumbled across this site. The helpful nature and expertise that's shared freely by so many of you is amazing.

 

[azygous]

Good work! Now, to give your tiny one a really good chance to make the next hurdles it will face, get some Poultry Nutri-drench and start giving a drop a day for the next couple weeks.

That this chick is under-size indicates it need extra nutrients to boost the development of its internal organs so it can catch up to the others.

An easy way to give the liquid is to place two drops in the palm of your hand and dip the chick's beak in it until only a smear is left on your hand. Otherwise you will end up with most of the dose on the chick's down or your shirt.

 

[Humpty Doo chicken family]

I can't get Nutri Drench here in Australia and I live in an area that is notorious for long waits on postage. Is there anything natural you would suggest? I'm feeding her as much high protein, vitamin rich foods as possible, egg yolk, oats, quinoa, moist chick starter, watermelon etc. I don't think she was able to reach her food easily when she was in the enclosure with the other chicks and mum and she missed out a lot. Now she has full easy access to food she's become a little piggy.

 

[azygous]

Baby vitamins are the next best thing to Nutri-drench. It's unfortunate you can't get them where you live as they are formulated to go directly into the bloodstream which is a real boon to a chick that probably has an undeveloped digestive system.

The baby vitamins will have to do for now, but if you can order the Nutri-drench and when it finally comes, you could then switch over.

 

[Humpty Doo chicken family]

Baby vitamins are the next best thing to Nutri-drench. It's unfortunate you can't get them where you live as they are formulated to go directly into the bloodstream which is a real boon to a chick that probably has an undeveloped digestive system.

The baby vitamins will have to do for now, but if you can order the Nutri-drench and when it finally comes, you could then switch over.

Are there any other foods you recommended to feed her or avoid? She's been eating pumpkin purée this morning and loved it!!

 

[azygous]

Crumbled tofu is excellent because it's high in protein and easily digested. I've had good luck getting an undersize chick through the stage where stimulating its appetite was the number one problem. The pumpkin is good if you can mix it with tofu. It would be a more balanced diet, and your chick would probably start growing rapidly.

 

[Humpty Doo chicken family]

I have some tofu in the fridge! Excellent. I will crumble some up for her right now!! I can't thank you enough