HE’S STANDING!!

[Hobblesthechick]

I’ve posted over the weekend about a 5 day old chick who we thought had splayed legs but turns out he had a slipped tendon. He hasn’t been able to walk since he was a day old.

We’ve splinted him and kept him upright for 48 hours. We left him out in a box with heater and food and cuddly teddies to keep warm. He’s now standing!!!

I never thought we’d get to this stage but please what do I do now to keep the momentum going?

Should he be standing on the leg to build strength or will that damage it further? Should we put him in a chick chair to raise the feet off the ground and let the leg heal more.

Almost all of the swelling and bruising has gone from that leg now. He’s still not using the toes/lower leg as well but he is standing on it and using it to walk/hobble. He’s a bit unsteady on his feet but I imagine that’s to be expected as he hasn’t been able to stand upright at all since hatching.

What do we do? Please xxxx

 

[Bertram]

I would not let him have a lot of room to move and make sure food and water are close. Also keep him by himself for a while longer. Right now I think you just have to let him heal.

 

[Hobblesthechick]

I would not let him have a lot of room to move and make sure food and water are close. Also keep him by himself for a while longer. Right now I think you just have to let him heal.

We’re on a bit of a time crunch before the remaining chicks are taking to a woman who’s keeping them on her land but she won’t take one that’s ‘poorly’.

He’s in a smaller cardboard box with stable ground (kitchen towel and a tea towel on top of that) with scattered chick crumb and also a bottle lid of chick crumb and a bottle lid of water with vitamins diluted in.

I’ve added the two smallest/gentle chicks from the remaining hutch as I wanted to make sure he’s had a chance to socialise as he’s been isolated for five days now. We’re keeping constant eye on them but I figured this would give him/her the best chance of reintroducing to a flock in a few weeks time IF he continues to make progress and get better?

If he doesn’t, then at least I’ll hopefully have an easier time returning the other two to the flock as they’ll have a buddy each. Does that make sense?

But they’re in a quiet room with heater and constant supervision so we can monitor his legs etc. He seems to be following what the other chick is doing and pecking/flapping his wings etc. So hoping it’s actually a positive and allows him to mimic proper chick behaviours?

 

[Hobblesthechick]

We’re on a bit of a time crunch before the remaining chicks are taking to a woman who’s keeping them on her land but she won’t take one that’s ‘poorly’.

He’s in a smaller cardboard box with stable ground (kitchen towel and a tea towel on top of that) with scattered chick crumb and also a bottle lid of chick crumb and a bottle lid of water with vitamins diluted in.

I’ve added the two smallest/gentle chicks from the remaining hutch as I wanted to make sure he’s had a chance to socialise as he’s been isolated for five days now. We’re keeping constant eye on them but I figured this would give him/her the best chance of reintroducing to a flock in a few weeks time IF he continues to make progress and get better?

If he doesn’t, then at least I’ll hopefully have an easier time returning the other two to the flock as they’ll have a buddy each. Does that make sense?

But they’re in a quiet room with heater and constant supervision so we can monitor his legs etc. He seems to be following what the other chick is doing and pecking/flapping his wings etc. So hoping it’s actually a positive and allows him to mimic proper chick behaviours?

This is purely because he’s now noticeably smaller than the others and a few people gave me advice that it took about 3 weeks before their chicks caught up in size and weight. I don’t want to rush him back in the hutch with the others before Thursday where he’ll likely get pecked/bullied/trampled by the others.

But if I don’t socialise him, the other 7 will be gone on Thursday and I don’t have any other chicks around to merge him with.

Do you think this is logical and ok? Ill be sleep deprived with the supervision but I want to give him/her the best chance at a life. xx

 

[Bertram]

You could try introducing him to the others with supervision. They will have to establish the pecking order and he will probably be on the bottom but it would be like raising a bantam with a flock of standards. He should catch up eventually just make sure he's warm enough outside.
You can put him in a cage where he can see the chickens but they can't get to him.