Day Old Chick - Slipped Tendon or Splayed Legs?? I Need Your Help PLEASE

[thailand]

I have a chick newly hatched by me out my incubator. I'm wondering if someone can direct me please to a video of the difference between a slipped tendon/s and Splayed Legs?

This chick is now 24 hours old and cannot stand up/walk. It's legs are bent underneath it, and it cannot move except for fluttering around and kinda falling along.

I know that the first 24 hours or so are critical to any hope of improvement/repair.

If someone could please help me asap I sure would appreciate it.

Many thanks

 

[Eggcessive]

Sometimes it is hard to say which it is. Start poultry vitamins right away if you haven't already. Minerals would be good too, and Poultry Cell does have them. Nutri drench is good, but lacks riboflavin which is important. Do you have any pictures? Are the hocks swollen or red? You might try the vet wrap stips for splay leg treatment (easier to reposition than bandaids.) There is not much to be done for slipped tendons. Here are some links to read:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2014/01/5-common-problems-in-baby-chicks-with.html
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/6/diseases-of-poultry/220/slipped-tendon-perosis/
https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry
https://www.researchgate.net/public..._of_the_intertarsal_joint_in_broiler_chickens
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/999715/leg-issue-with-lavender-orpington

 

[alyssaallycat]

If it is splayed leg,make a hobble and provide electrolytes in the water. The legs will fix themselves in about a week

 

[thailand]

Thanks SO MUCH for your replies!!!! I have been giving poultry vitamins since yesterday. We don't have Nutri-Drench, Poultry Cell or anything like those here in Thailand I will start vitamins/electrolytes in the drinking water too then.

I have also used vet-wrap to make a hobble and have had her sitting in a cup overnight. She is now around 36 hours old. I've been taking her out of the cup periodically, removing the hobble and trying some light bending and stretching of her legs. So far there is little to no improvement. I've had a crippled chicken before and she lasted about 6 months before dying....it was not a happy life for her really. I'm dreading this chick ending up the same way. Sorry.....but there is just no way I could bring myself to end her life. I completely understand that I own chickens and with that goes the responsibility of putting them out of their misery sometimes when it is called for. Just never done that yet with any animal. If I need to I guess I could ask our Thai neighbours to do the deed. I want to go 'all out' first and do absolutely everything possible to help this chick to walk.

I'll try to get some photos posted asap to give you a better idea of exactly what the problem is.

Honestly, thanks again for looking at my post and offering help. It's very difficult living so far away from home (New Zealand) where I would be able to get all sorts of medicine etc.

 

[alyssaallycat]

I had a chick with a hobble, got her walking normally luckly! If her problem is due to a splayed leg, it happens because there was slippery floors like plastic or foam in the incubator/brooder while the leg tissue was soft enough to spread out. I recommend that if your floors are made of those two things, cover them with paper towels to provde traction. For the hobble- keep it on for an entire week. Only take it off if the foot turns purple or red from lack of circulation. Your are doing the right thing by providing minerals and vitamins. Make sure the chick has room to walk to help with its 'physical therapy'.

 

[alyssaallycat]

Also- s/he will neec acess to heat, food and water still. S/he will need to socialize with another chick that won't hurt her (for my treatment I put another chick with a broken leg with my chick) and put marbles in her water to prevent drowning. Chicks with hobbles are VERY clumbsy

 

[alyssaallycat]

If you could get a picture up that would be great. I can probably tell if it is a splayed leg or not. By the way- I started my chick on a hobble 3 days after it hatched, so the hobble will still work if you have applied it properly. Was this chick a late Hatcher?

 

[thailand]

Hi, thanks for helping me. Here's a video I just took a few minutes ago. I have removed the hobbles because I felt that they were not helping. I have now put 'shoes' on her feet and these seem to help her more. I have noticed that her toes are now kinda balled up a bit. They weren't that way when she first hatched. I'm wondering if it's more her feet that are the problem and not her legs. When she hatched she would just sit with her feet bent under her. I have checked her legs and she can bend and straighten them, and she can uncurl and curl her toes herself too.

Would love to hear what you think the problem might be If it's better for me to take a photo with nothing on her legs or feet then I can do so.

 

[alyssaallycat]

No, it is probably the legs.. the joint is bent and the chick doesn't seem to be able to move them. A hobble wouldn't necessarily hurt, but... that might not solve your problem. Curled toes are the least of the problems right now I think, but you can keep the bandages on if it doesn't interfer with a hobble. These chicks are just to darn cute! Us humans get so attached! If it is in your budget, try to call a vet in your area that treats chicks.Keep in mind it will cost upwords of a hundred dollars and they will not nessesarily save the chick, they will jump to put it down. I could never cull, I don't think. I love them too much. But you will have to know if you want to keep the chick you will have to invest a lot of time for a disabled bird. You have to check the hobble every 10ish hours for circulation. You have to watch that the other chicks are not hurting the disabled one. And I can't guarantee that the hobble will work, although it worked for a chick of mine simalier to yours. Keep me posted, and if your chick truly has splayed legs, I can walk you through how to treat it and recovery. The only way I can truly see if the chick has splayed legs is to put it on a counter top, without bandages, and have it face the camera straight on. I'm rooting for your chick!!!

 

[thailand]

Thanks. Ok.....I'll take all bandages off and put her on a counter top now. Will post photo shortly.