Baby chick with deformed feet? Update

[OrpingtonDad]

Oh my. Good luck.

 

[HidingInTheHenHouse]

I tried several types of cups. A small yogurt container was too shallow and could be tipped easily. A small cottage cheese container was too shallow. What I ended up using was a Countrytime Lemonade drink mix container. It had about the same diameter at the bottom as the cottage cheese container, but was much taller. I cut off the top about 1/3 where the edge curves in some and makes the diameter too narrow at the top to comfortably position the chick. It worked very well. Plenty of room for padding to position her correctly, and too tall for her to jump out of, stable enough not to tip. I liked it so well, I kept the altered container just in case I ever have another spraddle leg.

I so glad to hear she was hopping around some. That is really good news. I found with mine that sometimes you have hold them right by the food for a few minutes so they notice it and start eating. I also sprinkled crumbles on the bottom of the box to encourage that pecking instinct and hopefully get her to eat some more.

I also lined the bottom of the box with the grippy shelf liner for traction. It was easy to wash out in soapy water and I alternated it with a 2nd piece to give it time to dry.

Good Luck!

 

[Farm Chic]

well we had to cull our chick this morning

she wouldn't eat or drink for us much and we found her in her water bowl (shot glass) and she didn't seem to mind. We pulled her out and wrapped her in a towel and that is when we noticed that her bone was protruding from one of her legs. We knew that she was in a lot of pain and being that she is 6 days old, she looks like a 3 day old chick. we thought it best to cull her. we couldn't stand having her in pain anymore.

I hope that you are having better luck Janie Marie. Make sure to check her legs. We kept trying to put her tendons back in but they kept slipping back out. we wish you the best!

 

[JanieMarie]

Good news this morn. But first off I need to know what polyvisol is and where I can get it. Im assuming its a vitamin? Is it specific for animals? DD should be coming out & could save me a trip to town. Baby is doing surprisingly well! She woke me up at 6 having quite a k-nipchen! Think she just wanted out. She is able to balance on her feet somewhat with her whole body off the ground. She even tries to stretch upward sometimes. She drank some sugar water herself when I put her by the dish and also seems to enjoy pecking at the feed I have scattered on the floor! (Thanks HidingintheHenhouse) She's gotten pretty good at hopping around and if she does flop over can right herself again. I'm going to try and give her some raw egg yolk now for a boost thanks to reading luvmychickenkids thread. Gotta love this forum! Here's what she's looking like now without the dowel splint and having been slung up in a cup all night. I guess my question is will the tendon ever right itself? or does it just heal?

 

[ZooMummzy]

Quote:
Oh that is wonderful news JanieMarie! She looks great and is such a little cutie (what breed is she?)!!! That is such good news about her being up and around and eating on her own

The marbles in the lid brought back so many memories of my little Quincy....

So sorry to hear about your chick Farmchic....so sad

I'm sorry, Poly-vi-sol is a vitamin, a liquid baby vitamin. You can buy it in almost any grocery store or pharmacy where they sell vitamins. I gave 3 drops everyday for a week then every other day and so on till she was off it. Then I would wait a week and start over. Now I give it to her one week a month as a little added boost.

I wish I could answer the tendon question. I'm not sure if that is what my chick had or not. I just know that her leg is out to the side and she has learned to get around on one leg and her wings, using the bad leg for balance and gripping. Her bad leg was and does get swollen from time to time so I guess she could have the same thing. We were going to have it amputated but for now, I'm leaving it alone since she is doing so well.

Good luck with your little one and please keep updating as you can

Edited to say I still use grippy paper today for Quincy. It was the best stuff when she was little because she could really get around well on it. She would slip on the wood shavings and couldn't get any traction on paper towels after awhile. I alternate now between the grippy paper and a fake grass door mat that is soft. I bought some large size ones and cut them in half so I could change them out more often. I wash both of them with dish soap and bleach water then let them dry in the sun for a day.

 

[klf73]

just thouht I should add, make sure you get the poly-vi-sol WITHOUT the extra iron

Krista

 

[ZooMummzy]

Quote:
Yes, thank you! I forgot that part.

 

[JanieMarie]

I'm so sorry to hear about your chick Farm Chic. We can only do so much and then mother nature takes over. You tried and thats all we can do. I told myself I'd give her a week. Which will make a poor outcome even more difficult. But at least I'll know I did what I could. We don't want them to suffer. I know I shouldn't but I've been calling her Bunny cuz of the way she hops! She's not eating much but some. Wasn't interested in the egg yolk at all but I'll try again later.

 

[JanieMarie]

Oh yea - Don't know what breed she is. A 'designer chick' Quite a mix in the list of possible hens & roos. Any ideas?

 

[Farm Chic]

she is a cutie patootie! She certainly looks much better than my chick did. it is really hard not to name them when there is a possibility that they may not make it. But if it makes you feel hopeful, I didn't name mine and a name never came to me whereas with my others, several names came to mind. So maybe it was never meant to be with my chick!!