chick hatched with right foot not working correctly ((PICTURES NOW))

[SkyRoo]

well we just experienced our first Mama brooding! way awesome! she had 5 eggs set. 1 stopped 2nd week. 4 left all hatched. *yeah for Mama...she did far better than me!*

however one chick was left in the nest and still completely wet (last hatch) and freezing to the touch. Mama left it in the nest and decided to care for her other three. I thought it was not alive so I went to removed chick and it faintly moved its head...so brought it in warmed it up directly under heatlamp holding it...chick showed signs of possiable living started to cry a bit...so then we placed the chick in the pre-warmed incubator. now several hours later it is nearly a 100% recovered from this. chirping and fairly good activity level and seems alright...except

the problem...mmm its right foot something is wrong...no swelling....toes are not curled...but the toes on its right foot seem paralized? (not spreading out like its left foot)
so hard to explain...

after I take chick from the incubator I will try to get some good pictures of its foot...and post a photo...maybe something can help chick while still young. also if any one has idea what this might be or caused from? could chilling do that? or is this more a birth defect? or possiable chick will right its own foot in due time being on the wire floor of bator?

I get photos as soon as she is all the way dry.

thank you

edit: I forgot to mention that at about day 3 brooding...our alpha hen kicked mama off the nest and the eggs got pretty cold when we realized that she was not in the right nest box...(we corrected that putting her own hen hut by herself)...but the eggs did endure a chilling for several hours...we are very amazed at the hatch rate all things considered. did not know if this could affect chicks foot?

 

[pips&peeps]

If you look at the hock on the chick, you will probably find it is a little swollen. The longer it lives the more swollen it will get and it will start to bruise.

It is a common birth defect. I just got one in a batch of chicks I ordered from a hatchery. If it is this they will not recover.

Jean

 

[eggchel]

You could try taping the chick's foot to lightweight cardboard (cereal box) with blue painter's tape or band-aid tape to straighten and spread the toes out. This is usually used for curled toes and I see in your post that the toes are not curled but are still not spread out properly, so you might still give this a try.


Chel

 

[SkyRoo]

oh I was wrong...both feet are wrong!

its almost like poor little fellas feet are folded in half together make sense?
I try to get photos through the incubator window and its bad reflection.

it would be like a persons tumb and index finger folded over palm side against pinky and ring finger...in half...

I dont think the chick can stand....its still on hawks and tries...

bummer

I will look for photos of curled feet/toes..maybe that it

 

[SkyRoo]

 

[SkyRoo]

here is two more photos...
she makes attempts to walk around on her hocks...she can get around fairly well considering she is a few hours old...she is pretty wobbly on her hocks when trying to walk...
I have not seen her move feet or toes yet
paralyzed?
curled toes?

 

[mangled]

I don't know, but I'd definitely try to splint them before I gave up on her.

I had one hatch out with terribly curled toes, they all went over at almost a 90 degree angle. I cut the side out of a Jello box and taped her toes straight with the foot flat. I used strips of duct tape. The splint lasted about 4 days, and now that it is off, she only has one toe that is slightly bent, nothing that will hinder her in the future.

Good luck - she's a cutie!!
Em

 

[Mom 2em All]

I have no experience with them that little, but please tape them and try to straighten them out. I had a little crippled bantam roo that my husband and I found in the woods-of all places...and he was my little buddy with deformed legs. He walked on his hocks. It was small, and now looking at Carmen,( my chick who is probably 7-8 weeks old), that is probably how old he was.

Its sad, because he became very attached to me and vice versa, and I loved him. But as he got bigger/heavier it became harder and harder for him to get around on those legs/feet...they looked like your chicks. I ended up euthanizing him because he made sores on his hocks as his weight increased, and it was too hard for him to move. He would just lay there cheeping, and struggle to move around.

Good luck.

 

[mangled]

SkyRoo - how's your little one doing with the bad feet??

Em

 

[SkyRoo]

ohh pardon me...I missed your post!

the chick made a full recovery in just a matter of 12 hours post hatch. We did not end up doing any intervention for this chick...by the time we ran to town and got the tape there was progress noted in chicks feet and we decided to just closely watch the little fella. She is still in perfect condition and grew a bunch and a wonderful little chick.

thank you for asking!