Chick with deformed leg

[misty7850]

My barred rock, chick was born 2 weeks ago Friday. We noticed on hatch that the toes curled under, then the next day we noticed its whole left leg is deformed. It turns out from the hip, It can be put back in place, but pops right back out. But even with the hip in place, the leg from the knee down still goes out to the side.
We didn't think the poor thing would make it. but it seems to be striving. We had 2 black australorps hatch the next day, and Gimpy (hubby named it). is the one in charge.
We had a power outage during incubation time. I believe that may have caused it. We only had 3 of 12 eggs hatch.
The first picture, it looks like the one leg wants to walk the other way.

Here are all 3 of my baby chicks

 

[FrizzleFreak]

Any other symptoms? It could just be congenital, there are a few very rare diseases that could cause something like this. Possibilities: white muscle disease, exotic newcastle, arizonosis. In most of these it's degenerative. Does it seem like the leg is paralyzed? Ha, apparently there's a disease that causes backward somersaulting. Sorry, that's not helpful...umm, I don't really know what you should do! I don' think it's a disease really, you might try a splint to keep it in place. If he can get to food, water, etc, then you can give him/her as nice a life as you can. If he can't really move, I would cull.

 

[FrizzleFreak]

HA! Found it! Birds don't usually die from it, it's not curable, we don't know what causes it, it's not contagious. It's usually in heavy breed cockerels. Possibly caused by being raised on wire.

 

[misty7850]

No other symptoms, gets around fine (except when the leg that trys to walk backwards wins & it falls over) that doesn't happen too often though.. the leg isn't paralyzed, moves it aound and puts pressure on it, but not all the time.. (Can kick me with it just fine).
Doesn't act like its painful.
hatched out on 1/4 hardware cloth, but not raised on wire. Brooder has shavings.

Where can I find information on splinting ?
Although don't know if it would help, because even with hip in place that leg still goes out to the left from the knee..

 

[Judy]

People splint feet with Moleskin, Bandaids, regular tape, Q tips, and lord knows what else. You should find plenty of info here. But I have not read a thread that talked of treating a broken/dislocated hip successfully,

And you will also find people like me,who would cull.

 

[misty7850]

Thanks for all the helpful information.

 

[MoodyChicken]

Slipped tendon and possibly dislocated hip. Slipped tendon is not reversable, dislocated hips will quickly turn to broken hips if left unchecked. I woukd put it down. If the hip breaks they're in a looot of pain.

 

[misty7850]

Thanks, It is hard to do, but I don't want the chick to suffer. Although right now, doesn't seem to be in pain. I don't see a future with any quality.

 

[Glenda L Heywood]

Read this and help the chicken to walk

Orthopedics for Poultry Made Easy for Beginners
"D. C. Townsend" <[email protected]>

http://www.peafowl.org/ARTICLES/1 onto your browser location bar. It IS there
D C T
ORTHOPEDICS FOR POULTRY MADE EASY FOR BEGINNERS
By D.C. Townsend

These treatments have been tested and proven effective. I developed them for peafowl but they
may be used for any poultry. The key to success is to begin treatment promptly. In some cases delay
will kill or cripple the chick.

CROOKED TOES
Sometimes a peachick hatches with toes rolled into a fist. They may straighten out on their own
in the first day of life. If they do not do so, I make a CHICK SHOE (see illustration below) from
black pipe cleaner available in the crafts department at Wal-Mart. I use black ones because
bright colors are more likely to be pecked by other peachicks. One packet of Westrim Crafts Chenille
stems costs 89 cents and will last for years. Any kind of half inch wide tape can be used to attach the CHICK SHOE to the toes, but I prefer Johnson and Johnson First Aid clear tape. I cut a piece a quarter inch long for the middle toe. I cut another piece the same length and split into two quarter inch-wide pieces for the other toes. Eight hours of treatment is usually enough time to end the problem on a day-old peachick.

CHICK SHOE
Not Actual Size
HALF SHOE
Not Actual Size
In the 1995 hatch, I had a number of peachicks with a kink in the outer toe of one or both feet.
They were well past a week old when I decided that I must do something about it. I made HALF SHOES of black pipe cleaner. I tore off a quarter inch-wide stripe of duck tape several inches long and secured
the HALF SHOE to the middle and the outer toe. Several days of treatment were needed. Some of the
HALF SHOES came off and had to be taped on again, but all treated peachicks had straight toes at the
end of the treatment. There is a young peacock that I missed treating. Now it is too late and he will
always have a kink in his outer toe.

STRADDLE LEGS
This problem can occur even if you take the precaution of having quarter inch hardware cloth
under your peachicks. Sometimes it is caused by the struggles of a chick with its toes rolled into
fists. In that case, both problems must be treated at the same time. I cut a piece of tape four or
five inches long and from the HOBBLE BRACE with the legs far enough apart so that the peachick can walk. The tape must go the whole way around and cover its sticky side so that it does not stick to the
peachick's fuzz when it sits down. Usually 24 hours of treatment is sufficient, but sometimes more is
required. CHICK SHOES and the HOBBLE BRACE can be used at the same time.

HOBBLE BRACE
ACHILLES TENDON OUT OF THE GROOVE
When the Achilles tendon slips out of the groove on the hock joint, a peachick will not be able to
straighten its leg. The problem needs prompt attention because the struggling peachick will put
its weight on the hock joint which will damage the skin and cause swelling in the joint. The tendon
can be pushed back in place with just one finger or a very gentle squeeze between the thumb and index
finger. Sometimes just one treatment will give a complete cure that seems like a miracle. Other
times several treatments are needed. Stubborn cases require advanced treatment that is too difficult to
explain here. I treated both legs of a peachick for two weeks; She grew up to be a healthy peahen.

RELATED MATERIAL: ORDER THE VIDEO! The author of this article has an instructional video available. It would be prudent to order yours today and have it on hand BEFORE you actually need it. To order your VHS video, send a check or money order for $25.00 made payable to: D.C. Townsend. PO
BOX 11. Kite, GA. 31049-0011

This article was originally published in the May/June issue of the Peacock Journal. All rights
reserved. Used with permission.

 

[bock]

I am SO sorry!!!