Yeah she's totally imprinting. Hopefully after all this she really is a SHE.Like I said, I still have the chicken in which it never healed. Her name is Charlie and she's 3 years old. Other than the fact that she has a bum leg, she's perfectly healthy and gets around fine.
Could you take more pictures of her hock? I think the reason Charlie's leg never healed was because I wasn't finding the tendon correctly. I will try to walk you through it. Look her good leg and the legs of the other chicks. (I'm currently looking at my goslings leg for a description and I'm pretty sure a chick leg is very similar) Look at the outsides of their legs. There should be a little 'bump' of a tendon running down their hocks and legs. Then look at her bad leg. If the tendon is still slipped, than it will appear flat and swollen. The tendon has slipped to the side of her leg. When you pull the leg back, use your fingers to gently massge the tendon upwards. Don't be afaird to pull the leg back, if you are worried about pulling too far, grab a healthy chick and see how far it's leg can go back comfortably. You can usually pull it until it's perfectly straight. It will be somewhat difficult to get her leg straight because of the slipped tendon, but not impossible. It will hurt her, she will be in pain, but it's better than a life long deformity. Hopefully you will see and feel the tendon coming into place.
Once you get the tendon in place, just brace her leg so that it's immobile and straight. Once she gets the hang of walking with it (she will eventually) she can be placed with the other chicks.
Sounds like she's starting to imprint on you. It's not very common with chicks and I love when it happens. Don't give up on her.
Is the slipped tendon usually on the inside or outside? or can it be either? She's got all these feathers on her hocks so it's really hard to see anything, I can try getting her legs wet again to see better. I'll let you know what happens.
Susan