Dislocated leg... is there anything I can do about it?

[Miss Sebright]

The chick is about 2 weeks old now, and other than the leg is perfectly healthy. About 3-4 days after they all hatched, I noticed this one's leg was funny. I figured it was spraddle leg, and treated it so. But now I know it's not spraddle, sometimes it's leg'll twist almost 180* to the side. The chick doesn't seem to be in pain, but I'm worried. Can I do anything to help... or should I put it down?

 

[ChickenToes]

If the chick doesn't seem to be in pain and isn't having any trouble walking, I wouldn't put it down just yet. I don't know how you could treat the leg, but maybe someone else will chime in.

 

[Miss Sebright]

Thanks.

 

[chicknmania]

If it really is dislocated the longer you wait the harder it will be to put back. You might feel around at the hip joint and see if you can tell anything different from the other hip;I have read that sometimes gently manipulating a dislocated joint can cause it to pop back into place. I have never tried this, just read about it. WE had a a hen once whose hip was dislccated by a rooster; we took her to the vet; he broke her leg trying to put her hip back. What a mess. He did tell us that she would learn to hobble around but I don't think her quality of life would have been very good.