Chick hatched with crippled feet

[b4096]

We had a pretty good hatch of Cochin chicks, all are healthy and happy...with the exception of one gray hen. At first, it looked like she had been born with only 2 toes on each foot? When we got to checking her out it turns out that her legs are bowed inward and her outer third toe is tucked underneath her foot. I read where you can spread her toes out and fasten them to keep them that way. Hopefully in a few days it should correct itself? She eats good and chirps a lot, but lays down about 90% of the time, so the others are out-growing her...plus they step on her quite a bit too. Is there anything else I can do? I do not want to cull her! Thanks!

 

[Imp]

Here's some info:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=72885

Imp

 

[tallyho]

We also had a cochin hatch with a funky foot. We put the little shoe on her for about a day and a half and it fixed her perfectly. I used a piece of toilet paper roll for the sole and athletic tape to tape the foot flat to the cardboard. It's very hard to get it on a wiggly chick but we managed. Do it right away while their bones are still soft. She's 7 weeks old and we can't even tell she ever had a problem.

This is Funky with her little shoe

 

[CMV]

I hope this proves helpful. It's a pretty good page relating to chicken orthopedics.

https://sites.google.com/a/larsencreek.com/chicken-orthopedics/leg-braces

Good luck.