Baby chick doing poorly...

[IggiMom]

Usually I am a realist too. Wow, every two hours!

Hmm, maybe you are right about the legs.

I wonder.

Catherine

 

[tnchickenut]

Here is the long and skinny on it.

None of us can truely tell you what to do... we have never seen the booger! All we can tell you is that splayed legs can be corrected by hobbling the chick. Vitamins and such with help give the booger nurishment, but if there is something wrong with the skeletal structure of the chick... ain't no vitamin for that!

You know how a chicken should move, you know what the chick is doing... if you think he/she can make it in the world like it is now, then try to help it... if not, then...well, you know what is next.

From what is SOUNDS to me... maybe your temps took a spike at some point (towards the end, I predict) and high temps towards the end of a incubation can lead to legs being deformed.

Also, something to concider, there is sometimes a chick that will have it's hock joint dislocated. I'm not sure if this fits your bill... but you can get a hock back in place by gently rubbing the "hip" and getting the hock joint back in place. If this is it... you would see immediate improvement... like popping a finger into place after being dislocated. Same thing, different critter.


Is it on it's back all the time? Like it can't control it's legs or like it can't get balanced and just fall?

 

[rancher hicks]

I recently had 3 hatch one w/ a crippled foot. It was useless. I tried hanging it by the foot to see if it would straighten out but it didn't. It was trying to walk and eat but there just wasn't any way I could deal with this poor chick. Knowing they are fragile I realized the sooner the better so I did what I had to do. It was hard.

 

[Gypsy07]

Any chance you could post a pic of it so we can see what its legs look like? If it's just a bit feeble there's every chance it could turn out fine. But if it has a skeletal deformity or genetic abnormality there's probably not much you can do.

I had a chick like you describe hatch out a few weeks ago. It couldn't stand up and it lay stretched out peeping and wriggling around. Mostly on its back with its beak open and its feet in the air. Its legs seemed really feeble and its feet felt kinda soft when I poked at them. Like, no muscle tone, just all floppy. If I sat it up it wobbled and rocked and fell over again. But it was fairly vigorous with its wriggling so I thought it might come good. On the second day I syringe fed it a few drops of sugar water every few hours and the day after that I sat it up and held it in position for a few minutes at a time. Within two hours of my doing that it was staying in a sitting position by itself and it's now a month old and as healthy as the others

Good luck!

 

[VredenburgS]

Quote:
We have one with Spraddle leg also...had to use small pieces of masking tape cause bandaids DID NOT STAY STUCK...ours is upright for the first time tonight..giving water with eyedropper mostly...she does eat and drink if we put her beak in it...good luck with your baby!

 

[Gypsy07]

WELL??? How's he/she doing then?

 

[IggiMom]

I'm sorry. The liddle guy died. I didn't have the heart to post it.

I think there was more wrong than spraddle legs, but I guess it was good that I got the experience of making a prosthesis.

Catherine

 

[Serrin]

Oh Catherine, I'm so sorry for your loss. I just found the thread and was reading along....and then I got to your post today.

How sad. I think you did everything humanly possible for the wee one. Sometimes they just aren't meant to be with us for very long. Like Cynthia (Speckledhen) said of her little special needs chick, some of them are just too precious to stay in this world. S/he has gone on to a better life now, free from deformities, defects, pain or suffering. Look on the positive side. Like you said, at least you learned a lot about making prosthesis and what it takes to nurture a "special needs" chick. If there is a next time, you'll be better prepared to deal with the situation. Wishing you the best for the rest of your hatch and their continued good health.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Quote:
I am so very sorry -

 

[Gypsy07]

Oh dear. I'm sorry he/she didn't make it. How sad...