chick has major bum leg

[sweetbirds]

we have a 5 week old bantam chick with a bum leg. her knee is swollen at the joint and instead of her foot facing forward, that leg from the knee down completely goes out to the side and towards the back. she is able to grasp but its weak and it does little good when her leg is going in the wrong direction. i'm not really sure what to do about this and would really appreciate some input. when we first noticed it we thought it was just a growth spurt or maybe she was carrying her leg odd due to the feathers coming in but now her claws/foot does not lay flat at all and the leg just gets drug around.

i have pics i was going to attach but don't seem to be able to.

 

[PlatypusPerry]

I hate to say it but if she can't walk I would humanely put her down. If she has to drag the foot everywhere it might get scraped up and infected over time even.

You just have to weigh keeping her around with a bum leg vs. humanely putting her down - her quality of life long term.

 

[Suzierd]

I have seen people here have chickens with one leg that do fine. I would wait for more advise. Hopefully there's something you can do.

 

[nurse_turtle]

There is a condition called "slipped tendon" that can sometimes be reversed although I have no experience with this. For this to happen at 5 weeks old, it's not going to be splayed leg. Read more about slipped tendon in chicks. If it cannot be repaired, I would euthanize. Having a one-legged chicken survive and be o-kay is much different than having a 2-legged chick trying to drag around a bum leg.