Day old chick cannot walk, falls on side

[casportpony]

Ok. Well I guess the good news is right now when I replace it there is no swelling. So fingers crossed I caught it in time.

I hope you can fix it.

-Kathy

 

[WVduckchick]

I hope you can fix it.

-Kathy

x2!

 

[izziebean]

Thinking about you and the little chicks today. Hope they are on the mend and walking soon.

 

[kuchchicks]

They both have a strong spirit and will. We are still fighting for them. I have become way to attached and am going to have a hard time if this ends badly. With that said we have not given up hope yet. St Francis is standing guard!!

Thanks for thinking of them!

 

[WVduckchick]

Wishing for the best!

 

[kuchchicks]

I'm really having a hard time with this tonight. This is going to be more of me just letting it go a little... I home alone tonight and it's kind of getting to me. I have really grown attached to these two little chicks and I wish I had not. I name my birds, but have avoided giving these two names in the hopes that I would have any easier time letting go... it's not working. Each time I hold them to feed them or help to exercise them I find myself thinking "if they get better what kind of name would suit them?". There are positives and negatives, ups and downs during my day with them. They seems like they are making progress and then I take a step back and try to see long term and wonder if I am just prolonging the inevitable.

Today the little yellow one is so energetic. He eats and drinks with such enthusiasm. I keep him in his chair all day long and take him out a couple of times to let him move a little. I have his chair low enough that his little feet can touch the ground and he is able to move his chair a little. His only real problem is no balance. If he could learn to balance he would be fine... but how do you teach that? For this reason I am assuming the problem is neurological and realistically how can he improve? I am fine with a special needs bird... I even played with the idea of making him a little chair that he can live in as an adult. I told my oldest son my idea (he's 13 and a huge animal person, though he tries to come off as being tough and unaffected by this), his response to me about the chair is "that would be a miserable life for him"...

The little black chick is so strong. He is constantly escaping his chair except at night when the lights are out. The he sleeps peacefully through the night. I have been trying to keep an eye on his toes to make sure that the circulation was not cut off by the wrap on put on his slipped tendon. Tonight the toes started to look slightly different in color - still warm, still can feel sensation and move them. I know that they grow rapidly so I removed the wrap. I was so scared as to what I was going to find. I took the wrap off and the tendon held in place! Now he is still holding the leg out straight but I think it may just be stiff from being extended (I had the same issue when they took the cast off of my leg). But he did bend it briefly and re-extend it. I did put him back in his chair only because I did not want him to bare weight on it yet. I just don't know though if I should put the wrap back on it or let it be... (I know that I'm rambling so if no one is reading by this point it's okay... but if someone is...)What do you think I should do?! Rewrap it or leave it? If I am making progress with his slipped tendon I don't want him to bend the leg too soon and displace it again. But I also don't want to keep it on too long and fix one problem only to replace it with another. I had the wrap on for 31 hours.

Someone told me today that I should be thinking of quality of life and I should just put the birds down now. The thing is I'm not sure I can do it now. I have been reading up on the CO2 chamber. I could make it, but I cannot see myself putting them in and closing the lid... what if they get scared and start to scream... I think I may take them out. God I'm sitting here crying while I write this. Sometimes I HATE being an animal person.

 

[WVduckchick]

I think I'd leave the wrap off for a bit, and see how he does. You can always rewrap it later.

And as I said before, you will know when/if the time comes that either of them need put down. Try not to stress over it yet. Just hope for the best for now.

 

[izziebean]

Aww **hugs** I did read all the way through your post. There is no right or wrong answers here. Watching something so tiny struggle and fight for life when the odds are stacked against them can just suck the life out of you. I went through that this spring when I slowly lost 4 of the chicks I adopted. I didn't have to make the choice to end their life. They just slowly slipped away. The thing is.. yours are making a bit of progress. Maybe not quickly, but a little bit at a time. I agree with the previous poster.. you might want to leave the wrap off and see how the little one does. As for the neurological issues, your son is right.. quality of life.. but then again.. 3D printers are now available and there might be some people out there willing to make something really neat for the little guy to roll around in. The balance might just happen naturally in the next few days. There are options to save the life, but it is okay to let go too. Hang in there!!

 

[kuchchicks]

MIRACLE!

I took the wrap off last night to readjust it. I set the chick down to grab new vet wrap and he was WALKING NORMALLY!! He is now completely eating and drinking unassisted. All I can say is THANK YOU JESUS!

Now I need to double up my efforts on my yellow chick. He is making some slight improvements but still cannot balance in his own. I am continuing with Poly-Vi-Sol, Pedialyte, and I'm trying to do physical therapy several times a day. He too now refuses to stay in his sling chair. Since seen the little black chick up and running around he wants to be with him too. So I've decided to leave him out and try to let him make some more progress on his own that way. he is able to get up off the ground into a standing position which he was not able to do before but still cannot stand or walk without leaning up against the wall. Since I had a miracle with my but still cannot stand or walk without leaning up against the wall. Since I had a miracle with my Black chIck I am now hoping for a miracle with my yellow chick. Anyone with any ideas on how to fix balance?

 

[lazy gardener]

Are you giving B vitamins and Selenium?