Do splayed legs ever fix by themself?

[PoultryPedia]

Me again!
You also should be sure to change hobbles at least every 2 days since a chick is growing fast & tape will quickly become too tight to allow growth & circulation.
You can use baby oil to make tape removal easier and help minimize pain or skin damage for chick. Waterless antibacterial hand soap is great for getting the oiliness off you & the chick afterward.

 

[Must Be Losing It]

My little one was up and walking but with some difficulty last night. I put new shackles on her as she had gotten them off and she is even better this morning.

But I will tell you, I had a problem w/ an earlier chick who never got better and it turned out to be a worse problem than just splayed legs. She had to be put down unfortunately.

J

 

[Must Be Losing It]

I'm pleased to report complete success. Little Chirpy is doing great and walking as if it always was in good shape. Hurray! The leg irons worked.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

yay!!!

 

[chixontheprairie]

I just put bandaids on my week old silkie. He/she doesn't like it. Hope it works. I should have looked on the site sooner to know what to do for him.

 

[al6517]

We just hatched out about 35 chicks last week, and a day or so after my Daughter noticed one chick with a splayed or spraddle leg. we have them on foam shelf liner with shavings, I watched it closely for a few days, and after about a week it healed itself. it now walks very normal is strong and is thriving. so I guess it certainly is possible.

AL

 

[PoultryPedia]

chixontheprairie--Let us know how your chick comes along. Here's hoping for the best!

 

[the wild tigheberries]

I might be too late. We've tried band-aids and pipe-cleaners, and physical therapy. Jerry was looking pretty good two days ago, after doing therapy for a few days, but that leg is straight out again. He will be three weeks on Thursday (today is Sunday). Is it too late for him? And should I be more aggressive?

What is this packing stuff you speak of? He seems to need to be able to hold his legs together. I tried a towel and a pillow case--his toes keep getting caught in them. I thought they would be easier for him to stand on because he won't slide.

 

[PoultryPedia]

You can use a nail file to gently smooth the ends of his toenails so they don't snag as easily. If they're quite long, you can carefully snip very tips with fingernail clippers first.

I found paper towels on top of an inch or two of pine shavings, or just the shavings themselves, to provide a good walking surface.

The big problem with splayed leg condition is that the chick's brain has decided that pushing the leg to the side is the most effective way to use it.

I'm afraid that at 3 weeks, it may be too difficult to reprogram. If the chick has developed its muscles a lot for turning out to the side, putting hobbles on it seems to just reinforce its continuing to push out rather than trying new angles--The chick learns to stand based on pushing the one leg to the side and the splayed leg's tension against the hobble (which is tied to the stable, standing leg) being used for balance. Then, the chick can become reliant on the hobble for functioning, rather than the hobble helping motivate the chick to explore options and retrain its brain.

If a chick continues to wear and rely on hobbles for an extended period of weeks, its leg will become progressively more deformed. I know--I nursed one for 5 months that way...

You'll have to analyze whether the chick seems still capable of perceiving that forward (vs. sideways) leg movement can be a beneficial way to stand and walk. I'd think the way to evaluate would be doing physical therapy and observing how apt the chick is to try out doing correct movements as you help it.

If the chick seems able still to experiment and explore, you'd probably need to do frequent (8-14 times per day for 1-5 mins.) physical therapy for a few days. At this stage, I'd recommend keeping the chick confined to a small area so it doesn't spend much time trying on its own to use its previously learned, incorrect movements. If it gets better enough at moving its legs correctly, you can start taking the hobbles off for short periods of time, increasing the amount gradually.

So sorry for your trouble. So hard! Best wishes

 

[the wild tigheberries]

Thanks so much. Do you suggest pipe cleaners or band-aids at this point? Also, one set or two? And should they still be positioned at his shins or should we put them closer to his thighs? As far as pt, I have been moving his leg the way it should go, in sets of ten, with a few seconds in between--but only 2 or 3 reps, a few times a day. I guess I should increase this.

I felt encouraged when my pt met with resistance. To that point, I was wondering if he even had any muscles in his left leg.

Thanks for your help. Jerry is so cute--him and his wittle spwayed weg.