Baby chicken born with defects

[andreagivens]

I had nine eggs in the incubator and was having problems controlling the humitity. The chicken eggs did not hatch when they were supposed to. A week later one hatched but has birth defects. What should I do with him. Can I treat him like a baby and incubate him back to heath?? He just lays there because its right leg looks defected. He moves around but only by rolling because of his one leg. I do not want to put him down unless he is sufforing and it is what is best. He looks like he is develope in all other ereas. He is chirping like my others did. Please help me any advise is appreciated!!!!

 

[Megan Amber]

If you give me some more details on the defect then maybe we can figure out a way to fix him!

 

[BunkyB]

Often enough we all have to deal with the leg issues with chicks. A lot of times there are ways to help out the little fellas with homemade tricks, bandages, etc. If the little fella is chirping and trying to eat and drink help her along . If you are worried about pain look to see if there is panting going on, rapid breathing sorta speak. If everything looks normal there can be a way to help.

A good description of what you see will be helpful in diagnosing . Post what you see, curled toes, twisted leg, backward leg, etc. Do what you can to get food and water into her without forcing the feed and water too much. Some people overdo it and drown their chick unfortunately. Steve

 

[andreagivens]

It is breathing fine. It is drinking water but not food yet. Its right leg looks curled up almost like it is twisted inward. It can hold its head up but not for a long time. It is having a greenish discharge. It is only a day old. Everything else looks normal just smaller in size than most chickens at the time of birth. Ask more questions if you need to know more to help. Thank you so much.

 

[Megan Amber]

I might to put a splint on it to help straighten it out. It can be hard to get one on such a tiny leg but with patience it can be done. If you have someone to help you, you might want to ask them to hold it for you. The other thing you could do to help is to put a no slip material in the bottom of you brooder! Good Luck!

 

[BunkyB]

Hi again, just concerned about the green discharge you mention..Could be that the chick was like a premature baby and has not eaten all the nutrients in the sac, some pretty wild colors there. If this is the case she may take a while to catch up to the other chicks. Drinking is good to hear but hopefully real soon she will see the food source and or pieces of food and begin eating, bad leg or not...

Playing doctor with a home made splint is something we all learn to do when the time arises and unfortunately it takes a few misses before we start to get it right. By all means, if you can get the leg to turn properly or at least the right direction then consider your version of a splint and give it a shot. Consider pipe cleaners, medical tape or even band-aids.

Watch that she at least drinks and in a couple or few days hold her to some feed, check out your splint and see if things got better.If not go for the splint again for a couple more days.. Best of luck.... Steve