Chick hatched with one leg. Any hope?

[QuinnP]

My Arlo is crippled with bad spraddle legs & one leg that is bent almost in half. He cannot walk at all. He uses one leg as a rudder to get his balance & uses his wings to get around when he;s not on my lap. Everyone needs a little help sometimes.

Sounds like your chicken has the chicken version of sirenomelia. In humans its lethal at or shortly after birth because of renal agenesis.

 

[mmaddie's mom]

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She should have no problem then! I had a roo called Stumpy who had two stumps and got around fine.

 

[nicoletm24]

I have a chick now, who is 2 weeks old. I call her "crip", she was born with a deformed leg. I tried fixing it when she was born, so such luck. But, on a good note, she holds her own out there! she looks like a flamingo. she hops along with that one leg to get food and water. I don't have to help her do anything. She's quite the trooper. I wouldn't give up hope on yours....Mine is a bit smaller in size, so i'm not 100% she'll make it....but I'm sure enough not gonna cull her. she'll be my miracle baby if she makes it.

 

[chickenpiedpiper]

I have a sweet grass Turkey who lost her foot early on in her life, and just has a stump now, her name is Peggy. We created a series of prosthetics with clear aquarium tubing. Just slide the snug fitting tube up the stump to the joint, and cut it off at about the length where the foot would be, and both legs are now the same length! We have had to increase the size of the tubing as she grew, and you cant leave it on indefinitly, but she tends to loose it every week or so. I usually get it one size too big, cause I dont want it constricting her leg.

She gets around well, both with and without it, but she is definitly a bit of an outcast. The other turkeys dont acknowledge her existence, and the hens dont like her, so she is living with a group of Juvinile Cochins, who of course love and welcome everyone, so she is happy. But I do have to keep an eye on her, and make sure she hasnt been driven into the bushes or under something by an overly protective mommy hen. But she is worth it.

I fear tho, that as she gets bigger, she may not do so well, fortunately she is a heritage breed, and will not get 40 lbs! We shall have to wait and see.

Good luck with your little one, and try the tubing, it works well.

 

[mmaddie's mom]

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The tubing is a great idea to even out leg length!

I made prosthetics from the corner of a plastic milk jug and velcro for Stumpy (he lost his feet to frost bite as an adult) (the prosthetics looked kinda like duck feet), but after he learned his balance again, he didn't need them anymore. The only thing that he didn't like were hard surfaces, ie. concrete/blacktop, and prefered to stay on grass or dirt.

 

[mmaddie's mom]

What breed is she... heavy bodied or light?

 

[WYOwhy]

I like all your stories. It does give me hope.
Here is a picture of her little foot:

I don't know her breed (what's the chicken term for mutt?) I think her daddy is the barred rock roo, maybe her mommy is the frizzle. She is so little, but none of her other clutchmates hatched, so it is hard to guess if she is runty or if she is part bantam. Cute little fuzz-ball, isn't she! I hope she'll thrive.

 

[mmaddie's mom]

What a sweety... I think she will do GREAT!

 

[fourfeathers]

I had one with a 'club foot' similar to that and she did fine for awhile. I think she would have lived a long and good life if not for her being a heavy breed bird. Just watch for sores. I have another with a deformed foot, not leg, and can walk on the leg, but tends to get bumbles and sores so wears a baby sock for cushioning and we change it out every day, plus soak the foot when there is a flare up. Love the aquarium tubing idea.

 

[QuinnP]

ayeeeeeeeeeeeeeee I saw a fuzzy belly!!!!