Chicks leg won’t sit right… tried hobbles and they didn’t help. Something else?

[Smileybans]

This baby is three weeks old. I bought her from a local lady who sells silkies and satins. I specifically asked for showgirls and this little baby turned out to be a runt.

She was growing slower and had gotten weaker. This was two weeks ago. I separated her and another chick. She has made it this far on her own without medication. Now however, she’s having leg problems. It’s been about 5 days since this started. I used the bandaid hobbles for three of those days. She actually moved less with it on so I took the hobble off. She uses her wing to balance and can stand on the foot. It just doesn’t sit under her. Should I try the hobbles again? I don’t want her to die because I tried to help her too much. I had that happen with two chicks already with leg problems.

I’m not holding her at an angle in the pictures though my camera might be. She is very hard to get pictures of since she flaps her wings constantly to maintain balance.

 

[Isadora]

Do you know if she has slipped tendons? There are some videos on YouTube showing how to move them back into place, as long as you catch it early. I currently have 3 turkeys with it but I didn't correct it soon enough and I have to cull them.

 

[Smileybans]

I thought of that but chick chairs haven’t worked out so well for me in the past. The last two chicks I put in them died. One from being so sad. When I took her out of the chair she was happy. In the chair miserable. But I thought for sure she had to be “fixed” to be happy. She was just happy to be with her flock. Messed up leg or not. After that chick chairs make me nervous. This chick ended up going downhill in the span of eight or so hours. She stopped eating and drinking. Nothing I did would get her to eat. She ended up dying.

 

[Isadora]

Aw, I'm sorry to hear that.

 

[bhaugh]

What kind of bedding do you use. For chicks with feet and some leg issues it helps to put them on an uneven surface. I use wood pellets really for odor control but I've noticed over the years in order for the chick to stay upright, they really have to try and in doing this, most can overcome some issues. It's not 100% and some just don't improve. Try putting hobbles on a quail chick.

 

[Smileybans]

What kind of bedding do you use. For chicks with feet and some leg issues it helps to put them on an uneven surface. I use wood pellets really for odor control but I've noticed over the years in order for the chick to stay upright, they really have to try and in doing this, most can overcome some issues. It's not 100% and some just don't improve. Try putting hobbles on a quail chick.

I mostly use pine shavings. I have used hydrated horse pellets before. But that caused issues because it was wet.

 

[bhaugh]

I mostly use pine shavings. I have used hydrated horse pellets before. But that caused issues because it was wet.

Try the wood pellets. I don't hydrate them. As they mess up the pen, the pellets break down. Good for odor control and hopefully it will help your chick.