Chicken Leg Looks Disjointed

[luckylefty]

This is not my first rodeo with chicks, but I have never encountered a chick that had a leg that actually looked disjointed - or really almost dislocated. We had 7 eggs in an incubator, but with the recent winter storm, we lost power, and only one chick ended up hatching (although we are going to wait a day to see if anymore do come out as a surprise!) We plan to go get a few "friends" for this one tomorrow from Tractor Supply, but until we are able to do so, we're keeping her warm and cozy with a stuffed animal chick!

My only concern is her leg. I've had chickens with bent feet, etc. in the past that were easily corrected. In this case, it is as if the whole leg is jutted out too far. Has anyone ever had this happen before or know a way to bandage it to help train it to stand correctly. She's not walking around too much, and I cannot tell if she has any discomfort. She is not cheeping loudly to make me think she is. I did put down shelf liner to help her grip as she walks because she was slipping on the paper towels.

I'm attaching a photo, although I am not sure how clearly you can see what I am describing from the way she was positioned.



Any advice is welcome!

 

[luckylefty]

Update on our little cheeper! We followed the directions for splay leg here: http://www.poultryhelp.com/spraddle.html. Although her leg was not the same as described, it did seem to help. Sadly, she seemed to be underdeveloped and did not grow as the days went on. She would also fall over and not always be able to get herself back up on her own. After a week, she passed away.

In hindsight, she served our farm well in that short amount of time, despite the sadness of her passing. When we went to pick up friends for her, we got 6 chicks as well as 2 ducklings... an adventure we've talked about but never actually acted upon. The cuteness of the ducklings won us over, and now we're eagerly reading up on all the things that make ducks happy campers so we can provide for them, just as we have for our chickens!

 

[SammileeChickie]

I'm sorry for your poor chick you did the best you could.!

 

[luckylefty]

I'm sorry for your poor chick

you did the best you could.!

Thanks!