Chick born with twisted (almost 180) leg... help?

[Smithjm27]

I'm a brand new chicken momma- first ever batch and had 8 out of 9 eggs hatch, and 7 of 8 perfect babies.

But that one... pipped fine but couldn't seem to turn to unzip the shell. After HOURS of watching this poor baby try and try to hatch, I decided to help. It was starting to dry and I was concerned it'd get stuck. (And it was very sticky)

I had removed shell, but ended up having to moisten and peel back the membrane some also...

I left the chick to hatch what was left. And it was able to push the shell apart. But that was all. You could see immediately that one of its legs wasn't positioned correctly, but I left it to sort itself out after hatching. At about 12-18hrs post hatch it was very active and vocal, but made no attempts to stand it was dragging/flopping itself around with its one good leg.

I tried bracing for splay, but since the rotation is inward it really didn't help.

Today I went all out and built a chick chair and abduction brace.

I'm just not sure what to do or if I'm even helping at this point. It is taking hydro chick solution from a syringe and had a good poop, its otherwise acting healthy. We're now about 48 hrs post hatch.

Looking for pointers. Thank you all!

 

[Smithjm27]

Welcome to BYC!
What kind of incubator did you use? Many of us put grippy shelf liner down before lockdown, so the chicks don't mess up their legs on the slick tray. Unfortunately it just happens. I'm really sorry, but his chances of making it are slim. I spent three months of my life and more money than I should have, trying to prove that statement wrong. And I still couldn't. Sadly it's just almost impossible to fix.
You can keep giving supportive care, but with legs you can easily overdo it. On such a small chick, I feel like you'd be better off with no splinting or wrapping. Put him and another friendly chick in together, and just see how he does. Trying to do a splint this young will usually cause more harm than good. You can use the chair some, but you have to be very careful. It's dangerous if they can't move around and regulate their body temp, it's easy to chill or overheat them.
His leg does look swollen to me, in the pics. Are you sure it isn't?

Also, to check if it's slipped, hold the hock joint carefully in your fingers. Extend it slowly backwards, while holding the joint. If you can feel it pop in and out while extending it back, it's slipped. You can extend it almost parallel with his body, but don't go past that. And only do it until you feel it pop in. You don't want to do it more than a couple times.
Good luck with the little one. Hopefully he can make it, and it's not slipped. But just prepare for the worst.

It was a modified little giant still air incubator. I added a small fan and did read before hatch to put liner down- i used paper towels.

I know we're not out of the woods, and if he were in the nest, likely wouldn't have made it. I was pretty worried that he'd die the last two days because he just was working so hard to try to move. He really perked up today so thats why the chair/brace.

I gave him a break and put him with the rest of his siblings and he actually tried to hobble a little, but im cautiously optimistic. Ill grab some pictures here for you to see what he looks like trying to walk

Thank you so much!

 

[Sara S]

I'm a brand new chicken momma- first ever batch and had 8 out of 9 eggs hatch, and 7 of 8 perfect babies.

But that one... pipped fine but couldn't seem to turn to unzip the shell. After HOURS of watching this poor baby try and try to hatch, I decided to help. It was starting to dry and I was concerned it'd get stuck. (And it was very sticky)

I had removed shell, but ended up having to moisten and peel back the membrane some also...

I left the chick to hatch what was left. And it was able to push the shell apart. But that was all. You could see immediately that one of its legs wasn't positioned correctly, but I left it to sort itself out after hatching. At about 12-18hrs post hatch it was very active and vocal, but made no attempts to stand it was dragging/flopping itself around with its one good leg.

I tried bracing for splay, but since the rotation is inward it really didn't help.

Today I went all out and built a chick chair and abduction brace.

I'm just not sure what to do or if I'm even helping at this point. It is taking hydro chick solution from a syringe and had a good poop, its otherwise acting healthy. We're now about 48 hrs post hatch.

Looking for pointers. Thank you all!

There’s SO many YouTube videos, I used a rubber band for one of my chicks, or vet wrap, or even a bandaid, make sure to check it tohugh every other day to make sure it isn’t tight since they grow so fast! Good luck with the little baby!

 

[Weeg]

Could this be slipped tendon? I'll post a link to my thread. I attempted treating a chick with slipped tendon that I found at the feed store. Its full of links and great details. Unfortunately Ebony didn't make it, but that thread is very helpful.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-with-one-splayed-leg-slipped-tendon.1514549/

 

[Sara S]

It's not splayed... I did a ton if YouTube watching... thenpicture kind of makes it look splayed. The left leg is fine. In the picture were it looks splayed, thats the right leg... twisted over to the left side

It might be a tendon issue, one of my chicks has that, it healed over before I could fix it and I just used those methods to keep it in the right position. Sorry I couldn’t help more

 

[Weeg]

I'm not sure if its a tendon or not. If it is, it's higher up in the "knee" joint. Both legs feel the same when placed in correct position. There is no swelling or redness. The chick attempts to use the leg and there appears to have full motion when in correct position... it just can't seem to keep it in correct position

Is there a way to tell?

It gets stressed/yells at me from me handling it to put the brace on/off but doesn't appear to be in pain otherwise.

It actually pecked at some starter feed and is drinking well from a syringe while I held it, in the brace.

The hock/knee joint is usually where the slipped tendon would be. It's very very likely that is what we're dealing with if it is only one leg. @MGG has more experience with this stuff though.
Can you post a photo of the chick trying to walk/stand?

 

[MGG]

I'm a brand new chicken momma- first ever batch and had 8 out of 9 eggs hatch, and 7 of 8 perfect babies.

But that one... pipped fine but couldn't seem to turn to unzip the shell. After HOURS of watching this poor baby try and try to hatch, I decided to help. It was starting to dry and I was concerned it'd get stuck. (And it was very sticky)

I had removed shell, but ended up having to moisten and peel back the membrane some also...

I left the chick to hatch what was left. And it was able to push the shell apart. But that was all. You could see immediately that one of its legs wasn't positioned correctly, but I left it to sort itself out after hatching. At about 12-18hrs post hatch it was very active and vocal, but made no attempts to stand it was dragging/flopping itself around with its one good leg.

I tried bracing for splay, but since the rotation is inward it really didn't help.

Today I went all out and built a chick chair and abduction brace.

I'm just not sure what to do or if I'm even helping at this point. It is taking hydro chick solution from a syringe and had a good poop, its otherwise acting healthy. We're now about 48 hrs post hatch.

Looking for pointers. Thank you all!

Welcome to BYC!
What kind of incubator did you use? Many of us put grippy shelf liner down before lockdown, so the chicks don't mess up their legs on the slick tray. Unfortunately it just happens. I'm really sorry, but his chances of making it are slim. I spent three months of my life and more money than I should have, trying to prove that statement wrong. And I still couldn't. Sadly it's just almost impossible to fix.
You can keep giving supportive care, but with legs you can easily overdo it. On such a small chick, I feel like you'd be better off with no splinting or wrapping. Put him and another friendly chick in together, and just see how he does. Trying to do a splint this young will usually cause more harm than good. You can use the chair some, but you have to be very careful. It's dangerous if they can't move around and regulate their body temp, it's easy to chill or overheat them.
His leg does look swollen to me, in the pics. Are you sure it isn't?

Also, to check if it's slipped, hold the hock joint carefully in your fingers. Extend it slowly backwards, while holding the joint. If you can feel it pop in and out while extending it back, it's slipped. You can extend it almost parallel with his body, but don't go past that. And only do it until you feel it pop in. You don't want to do it more than a couple times.
Good luck with the little one. Hopefully he can make it, and it's not slipped. But just prepare for the worst.

 

[Smithjm27]

Well, we may have two bad legs... and I was just hyper focused on the one.

He's been in the brace/chair for a few hours. I took him out right before this picture. This is the FIRST time he's attempted to stand. Bad leg seems to be supporting him for more of a hop/scoot now as opposed to him flopping around. Left leg is less impaired than right leg, but also appears to curl under him.

Second picture was an assist to stand. First picture was the little guys first "pushup". Instead of flopping around with his right leg behind him, now he's stepping on his own feet... baby steps I guess?

Can I do something with the other foot?

I didnt feel any popping in the joints...and if they're swollen, they both look/feel the same...

Maybe this is a neuro/ development thing?

 

[Weeg]

Well, we may have two bad legs... and I was just hyper focused on the one.

He's been in the brace/chair for a few hours. I took him out right before this picture. This is the FIRST time he's attempted to stand. Bad leg seems to be supporting him for more of a hop/scoot now as opposed to him flopping around. Left leg is less impaired than right leg, but also appears to curl under him.

Second picture was an assist to stand. First picture was the little guys first "pushup". Instead of flopping around with his right leg behind him, now he's stepping on his own feet... baby steps I guess?

Can I do something with the other foot?

I didnt feel any popping in the joints...and if they're swollen, they both look/feel the same...

Maybe this is a neuro/ development thing?

Odd, if its both legs maybe it was an issue with incubation, or a deformity. Slipped tendon usually only involves one leg.
what if you tried something like this-
https://www.etsy.com/listing/967145...ck_sum=534ad17c&ref=shop_home_active_16&crt=1
You could do both legs and maybe get them back in place? Like in the last photo?

 

[Smithjm27]

Odd, if its both legs maybe it was an issue with incubation, or a deformity. Slipped tendon usually only involves one leg.
what if you tried something like this-
https://www.etsy.com/listing/967145806/pet-bird-splints-and-spacers-for-small?click_key=99783167377aae6d3db18429cec98bd7427cce39:967145806&click_sum=534ad17c&ref=shop_home_active_16&crt=1
You could do both legs and maybe get them back in place? Like in the last photo?

Its worth a shot!