Chick with curled toes still not putting weight on foot.

[thecatumbrella]

Video here.

Duck is my 4 day-old Silkie chick. I got her in the mail on Tuesday with overnight shipping. She came with low energy, curled toes, and could barely walk. After focusing on getting her warm/fed/hydrated, I started splinting her toes on Wednesday with medical tape. We've also been doing b-complex with a couple drops of Poultry Drench. She could not stand. Only waddle to a spot and plop on her butt.

Yesterday afternoon, she started coming out from the heat plate on her own to eat and drink. Still with the waddle and plot technique.

This morning, she WALKED out from her heat plate and has been STANDING all day!

BUT, she will not put her full weight on the right foot. It was the worst of the two, and still curls some without tape. I'll attach an example photo of how the joints are behaving.

Questions
- Will this correct itself now that she's finally walking?
- Is there something I can do to force it into place? I tape her as straight as possible, but like I said, she's not putting much weight on to strengthen/straighten the bones.
- How long can I continue to tape her? Is it a lost cause after so many days? I am re-taping each day as she grows and to make sure we're getting good positioning.

Thank you in advance for any help, and thank you to @Eggcessive for their help yesterday on this issue.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would tape them for a few days, changing the tape daily since she is growing. Is she getting 1/4 tablet of the b complex daily?

 

[thecatumbrella]

I would tape them for a few days, changing the tape daily since she is growing. Is she getting 1/4 tablet of the b complex daily?

Yes. Followed your directions from another thread and mixed with a tiny bit of warm water. She doesn't take all of it, but a decent amount.

Would it be detrimental to move her to shavings?

 

[Eggcessive]

I would try her on the shavings? Is she with other chicks?

 

[thecatumbrella]

I would try her on the shavings? Is she with other chicks?

She has two companions that have been gentle with her (same age). We use hemp, which doesn't seem to have as much movement to it as typical flake shavings.