Baby chick born with skeletal deformity? Need advice and knowledge!!!

[MDeNayer]

Has anyone had this happen before or know what this might be? One of my Ayam Cemani chicks was born like this yesterday morning. She seemed perfectly fine after hatching alongside her two siblings. They spent the day exhausted from there big trip like normal and I’ve found Ayam’s tend to not just get up and start running I don’t know if it’s because there legs and feet are just so much bigger then a regular chicks or if they are just slower to get started. But anyway, this morning the two others were running around eating and drinking fine, she acts perfectly fine and will try to get over to the food and water and keep up with her siblings but I have no idea what is going on with her. I’m pretty sure it’s a skeletal deformity because it’s almost like her tibias are attached backwards. Any and all help on what this is and what to do would be so greatly appreciated. I purchased these eggs from a reputable individual who is NPIP certified and they told me they were pure Ayam Cemani.

 

[peafowl_Lover]

Maybe it could be splayed leg?

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

I have never seen that before, maybe @Wyorp Rock could help. The only thing I know is that they are not pure Ayam Cemani due to the pink leakage on the toes.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Has anyone had this happen before or know what this might be? One of my Ayam Cemani chicks was born like this yesterday morning. She seemed perfectly fine after hatching alongside her two siblings. They spent the day exhausted from there big trip like normal and I’ve found Ayam’s tend to not just get up and start running I don’t know if it’s because there legs and feet are just so much bigger then a regular chicks or if they are just slower to get started. But anyway, this morning the two others were running around eating and drinking fine, she acts perfectly fine and will try to get over to the food and water and keep up with her siblings but I have no idea what is going on with her. I’m pretty sure it’s a skeletal deformity because it’s almost like her tibias are attached backwards. Any and all help on what this is and what to do would be so greatly appreciated. I purchased these eggs from a reputable individual who is NPIP certified and they told me they were pure Ayam Cemani.

I don't think I've seen anything quite like that either. @Eggcessive have you?

Can the legs be straightened or are they stiff/locked in that position? Do the tendons feel out of place/slipped?

For me, I'd cull the chick.

But, if the legs can be bent to normal, then you can try splinting/wrapping the legs into position and starting her on 1/4tablet B-Complex.
Putting her in a sling/chick cup may also help.
Leg deformities can be due to parent stock nutritional deficiency, genetic issues or really a number of other things.

You may find this helpful https://web.archive.org/web/2022070...le.com/a/larsencreek.com/chicken-orthopedics/

 

[LaFleche]

Has it pooped yet?

Sometimes the chick will have swallowed too much albumen which then can lead to problems with defecating as their lower intestines can get kind of glued together.
You can give it a warm epsom salt bath for a few minutes and after drying it well with a towel and hair dryer, hold it in the palm of your left hand with the chicks back towards your palm and the legs towards your fingers and gently massage the abdomen towards the cloaca while carefully stretching the legs in the same direction.
As soon as the chick can defecate, it should be able to position the legs correctly and walk. But give it some time to recover from the massage/treatment, it will be exhausted.

This can happen when the hatching egg contains too much albumen which is often the case when using too big pullet eggs.

 

[Eggcessive]

I have not seen that, but if it doesn’t look different a little later with vitamins and time, I would probably cull it. Sorry.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Has it pooped yet?

Sometimes the chick will have swallowed too much albumen which then can lead to problems with defecating as their lower intestines can get kind of glued together.
You can give it a warm epsom salt bath for a few minutes and after drying it well with a towel and hair dryer, hold it in the palm of your left hand with the chicks back towards your palm and the legs towards your fingers and gently massage the abdomen towards the cloaca while carefully stretching the legs in the same direction.
As soon as the chick can defecate, it should be able to position the legs correctly and walk. But give it some time to recover from the massage/treatment, it will be exhausted.

This can happen when the hatching egg contains too much albumen which is often the case when using too big pullet eggs.

This interesting! I hope this will resolve the problem.

 

[LaFleche]

How is the little one today, did you get it to poop @MDeNayer ?

This interesting! I hope this will resolve the problem.

I had this experience years ago with two chicks that hatched from shipped eggs. They were still very wet and unable to stand and would fall back with their feet in the air every time they tried.
After the warm epsom salt bath and several minutes of carefully massaging them they were able to shoot out their first poop and started to eat and drink on their own after taking a moment to recover from the treatment.

Never had this happen with chicks hatched from our own chickens though. For hatching I only use eggs from hens at least two years old.

 

[MDeNayer]

Sorry for the late reply guys, I’m a labor and delivery nurse and having been working a lot lately. It seems like mommies are always ready to deliver their babies around the holidays! I unfortunately did have to cull the chick which absolutely broke my heart. With the way she was chirping and continuously I really felt she was hurting. I was hand feeding and watering her which wouldn’t have been a problem that’s just one of the unexpected encounters you sign up for when you decide to hatch and care for your own chicks/chickens. But, even me holding her in my hand would elicit an almost screaming chirp. She had pooped and several times I had to keep cleaning her bottom because she was just sitting in it. When I tried to straighten her legs out to see if I could splint them in the correct position then sling her so it would maybe strengthen the legs they wouldn’t bend in that direction. It was like the tibias were actually attached backwards at the hock or knee joint. She absolutely let me know that it was painful for me to try to straighten them out even slightly. I hope i choose the right decision for this little chick, it definitely wasn’t an easy one for me, I just couldn’t watch her continue to suffer knowing I didn’t have a solution to fix her. Thank you all so much for your helpful advice and knowledge you guys are so amazing and it’s so comforting knowing I have friends available to turn too that care as much as I do for our chickens.

 

[LaFleche]

Thank you for your update.

Sadly, we cannot resolve every problem that presents with hatchlings no matter how hard we try, so helping them out of their misery is often the only possible way to prevent further suffering.