Crippled Chicken question...

[goedric]

I have five LF Cochin chicks (2 male and 3 female)... 7 weeks old that I hatched... the incubator was a disaster, the hatch was difficult... four of the chicks are perfectly fine... one drags the right leg... the leg appears to be pretty useless... yet, she moves around and eats and drinks.

The question is, assuming the bum leg is the result of injury and not genetics... am I misguided to think with time she will hold her own in a small flock of just cochins so that she has some value as an egg layer to increase the genetic diversity of my flock?

I ask because i would be happier starting out with 3 females....

These as not terribly common... the chicks are lavender and split black with lavender... she is a split black..

If the answer is no... that i wont be able to get a some fertile eggs from here without distress or worse, then I suppose I should put her down... but if it is a possibility i will baby her thru the winter with smaller companions so that she has time to grow without stress

Advice appreciated. Thx

Jeff

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you post a couple of pictures of her standing close-up? She may have a slipped tendon or a vitamin deficiency. At this late stage those would be permanent. Does she curl her toes under on the bad leg, or hold the leg out to the side? Leg bone deformities, such as varus valgus deformity, and slipped tendon can be common in chickens. Riboflavin (vitamin B2) deficiency can cause curled toe paralysis. She should be able to lay eggs, but a lot depends on how well she can get around and get enough to eat and drink. It won't hurt to watch and see how she gets along. Having a handicapped chicken is not uncommon in backyard flocks, but some people do not have the time or patience to deal with this. Did you ever notice the problem early on?
Here is some reading that might help while others may share their experience:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...yone-ever-try-to-fix-this-experiences.879233/
https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1790586/

 

[goedric]

It was a problem from the start. I gave her vitamin supplements from the beginning (the packets sold at tractor supply. She holds the leg back... it does tremble a bit. She uses her wing for balance like a crutch. the foot appears to be rotated so that the flat of the foot is is perpendicular to the ground. Here are some pics... she is a furry thing difficult to see

 

[Eggcessive]

I wish I could help more. If you take a look at the last link in post #2, click on each page in the article to see pics of many different problems. TD or tibial dyschondroplasia is another one seen commonly. A vitamin/mineral supplement such as Poultry Cell that contains riboflavin certainly would not hurt, but most of these problems are caused by vitamin/mineral deficiency in the parent stock or some think, by hatch problems. (humidity, temperature fluctuation.)

 

[goedric]

Yeah... my best guess is hatcher problems... had faulty parts that first baked the eggs then completely stopped heating.... so i nudged the process with light bulbs waiting for replacement parts that also failed after a week.. what a waste of money that was. Still furious but its over now... guess I will baby her but not use here for breeding just in case it is genetic... thinking i can get a few black female cochins in the spring and cross the the male lavender roo to create more split blacks and then add the F1s to the flock and sell off the pure blacks locally.. thanks for your help!