chick limping

[hipmarye]

I noticed one of our chicks lying on it's side this evening covered in pine shavings. When I righted her I noticed she was favoring one leg. I really could see anything wrong, but I put her is a separate box with food, water, and a heat lamp. She hasn't gotten up and I'm concerned. Any ideas?

 

[hipmarye]

oops, I meant to say I could not see anything wrong.

 

[the_great_snag]

I have had babies do this before and it's almost always fatal. I think it's a congenital defect manifesting itself...

Sorry to be a wet blanket, but it happens. You have to expect a certain percentage of losses in a given batch of peeps...

 

[mandolinmama]

I am so sorry to hear that one of your babies is having trouble!

I wouldn't give up just yet. I'd just keep an eye on the booger for awhile. I just have the hardest time putting things down.
If it manages to live, might it not learn to adjust to it's condition?
I know it's not the same thing but my son has a deformed leg and foot. He's learned how to manage and doesn't know the difference (yet).

Anyhow, I hope your little chick pulls through and proves to be a good bird for your family.

 

[hipmarye]

She seems better today. She got up and started eating later on last night. After a while she started peeping quite loudly. I check to see if she was hurting and thought maybe she was just lonely since she was content when I was holding her. I put her back in with the others (there are 6 counting her) and she nested down for the night. I'm keeping an eye on her, but so far so good.

 

[roosterjack]

I had a 2 week old hen with the same problem. I may have tweeked her foot when I picked her up to clean the poo from her. I separated her from the rest of the chicks for a day but she didn't seem happy (and the rest of them definitely were not happy) so I put her back in the brooder and made sure she had food and water close by where she was laying. She kind of stayed in the corner out of the way. It took about 10 days but she did recover. At 8 weeks old now I have no idea which chick it was.

 

[juliebeer]

I posted this same problem last week. I had one doing the exact same thing. I did what you did and seperated it from the others. He seems to be fine now and is back in with the others. I still worry about him, he doesn't seem quite the same....but he walks okay now. He does sleep a lot now and doesn't seem to chirp quite as much, but is eating and drinking.

 

[CarriBrown]

I have one in the same situation. He was fine when he was first born, but now he hardly stands on the one foot. He will stand on the one leg and lean on his "elbow". He is eating and drinking and gets along fine. Foster Momma still loves him just like all the others, so I'm going to give him some time and see if he heals up.
I think he was stepped on by his "first" foster mom, who decided she didn't want chicks after all. One chick was stepped on, and I'm certain it was him (we've dubbed him "Crash" for now).

 

[TitiBebbs]

We had one who was doing that. Daddy tried bandaging cardboard under its foot to make the leg work better. That didn't work and it seemed to get a sore foot. We got the bandaid off and prayed. A week later we couldn't tell which one it was. Now a month after that, I can't tell any of the ones I first named. They change so quickly.