Chick boborn with deformed leg and foot

[CinnamonQueen12]

Three weeks ago I hatched 3 eggs in a homemade incubator. The first chick that hatched came out of the egg with its foot bet at an odd angle and its knee joint was all red and puffy. She would just hop around on her good foot with her wings out for balance while the bad one was tucked against her stomach. We have been taking her to the vet, who has been putting a hobble and a 'boot' on her to try to straighted the foot out. However, we noticed that the foot is just getting more and more bent and the swelling of the knee joint is getting worse. The vet suggested that we put her down, but I really dont want to/cant! Since the vet took the hobble and shoe off, she has been limping around, putting more weight on her foot than she used to, but she is noticably smaller than the other 2 that hatched with no problem. I dont want to put her down, but I'm trying to think about her future. We have 11 other chickens outside, and I am afraid that she will be pecked at if we try to put her in with the older ones. Plus, I dont know how she can climb the little ladder we have for the chickens to get into the coop. Can anyone help me try to correct her foot? I will post pics so you can see how deformed it is...

 

[CinnamonQueen12]

 

[Echobabe]

Yes, the other birds know that there is something horribly wrong, and they will peck at it because a weak bird weakens the entire flock. It won't be able to get away from predators. Since it is already a weak baby, it will likely have poor immunity as an adult and be the first chicken to contract illness and parasites. Even if you raise her/him to adulthood, there might be something misaligned internally that keeps it from being able to successfully lay an egg or breed. These situations can cause injury, trauma and even death.

The vet was not being cold, he was suggesting the most humane way to deal with a huge problem. I know there are some people that think every extreme measure must be taken to save every life, but you really need to consider the quality to be expected in that life. If it is going to struggle its entire life to walk, is it in pain. You don't really want that, do you?

IF you could find a vet that could do the type of surgery you would need to correct the foot, how much money would it cost? Probably hundreds of dollars, maybe over a thousand. Do you have that kind of money to spend? How much pain would you be willing to put the bird through?

Please, do the responsible thing here. That bird is depending on you for its care. Sometimes the strongest, best thing you can do in this situation is to do nothing but help the animal end its suffering. It's hard to do, but we have to make these decisions sometimes since no one else can. If this is too hard for you, ask your parents to make the decision for you.

Good luck, honey!

 

[CinnamonQueen12]

Thats just the thing, though! She doesnt seem to be in pain when she walks, and even though she had a heavy limp she gets around pretty well. Sometimes the other two chicks like to perch on the edge of the brooder, and she will try to jump up with them, even though she never makes it up. She used to just sleep, but now she is chirping the loudest and moving around more than she used to. If she was in pain, the first thing I would do is put her down, but shes not! Is there anyway I could keep her alive and happy?

 

[mikensara]

I guess a wait and see approach may be best. Is there a way she can be kept seperate later if shes picked on and maybe have a companion for her?

 

[CinnamonQueen12]

Well we have 5 chicks that are about 6 weeks old that I am trying to introduce to her so that she will have at least some friends when I put her in the coop. So far only 2 of the 5 chicks are pecking her but they are pecking the other chicks as well. She seems to get along fine with the other older ones. Her leg is also looking better, sort of. Shes starting to put more and more weight on it and it might be straitening out little by little on its own, but to be sure I'll need several days of observation to be 100% sure. In the meantime, I was planning on trying to manually straiten her foot if it wont on its own, so I was going to put a boot on her foot, but everytime I try, the medical tape falls off. Does anyone know where I can get medical tape for animals that wont come off as easily?