HELP 2wk old suddenly has TWISTED leg??

[mediazeal]

Has anyone had experience with 'Twisted Leg'???
read my research below.
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Original Post
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I have a 2 week old welsummer chick in with 10 others. He is still getting around fine but last night his left leg was way out to the side, seemed from the hip but who knows. They are in a huge box with a hardware cloth divider to other chicks on pine pellet bedding.
I have handled these chicks many times, so this is a new condition.
I dont' know if he hurt his leg, got it caught on the wire or what.

So is there anything I can do? He seems a tiny bit better this morning.
I can't imagine how to splint it at this point and I've never culled a chick and really don't want to...

Any hope, advice, guidance would be very very much appreciated.

thanks
Kris

 

[paddock36]

Here's how I fix spraddle leg. I take a bandaide and cut it in half long ways. The use the cloth center of the bandaide to measure the distance between the two legs of the chick and wrap each of the sticky parts (one side) around each leg. Hope that helps.

 

[mediazeal]

well, I'm not convinced it actually is spraddle leg since it just started
I am worried it is an injury
and I do not know how to splint it
how long does it take a chick to heal?
can it be fixed?
can a spraddle leg issue be fixed at 2 weeks if it is that?
Why would it have suddenly appeared?

I'm thinking of trying the coffee cup version of splinting since that would hold the leg in the right position plus keep the chick less active
now, how to keep him in the cup

How often do they need food and water?
every hour?

thanks for the help

 

[mediazeal]

Well, I was reading another thread that had this link about chick orthopedics and leg braces

http://sites.google.com/a/larsencreek.com/chicken-orthopedics/leg-braces

It's a great link. I thought I could make braces or a chick chair.
First I tried to straighten the leg as described to pull a tendon back in if that is slipped
no change
Then I tried bandaid hobbles
Could not get them aligned right
I went back and read again
it says in the food section that feeding them chick starter for the first 6 weeks:
Chick Starter: Usually 0-6 weeks
Includes Choline: This prevents Twisted Leg (which has symptoms similar to Splayed Leg but only affects one leg) in chicks under 6 weeks old.

Twisted Leg sounds like what he has as it is only one leg.
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/161/twisted-leg

so any ideas?
I added a little of the vitamins etc to the water and put him and a friend on rubbermaid shelf liner in a differnent box.

He has no hobbles right now.

Here is another link about vitamins and this condition
http://msucares.com/poultry/feeds/poultry_twisted_leg.html

I never heard of it before. Does not look like there is lots to do. I'm going to give vitamins and keep him on good flooring and hope. If you have dealt with this or have ideas, please share. I'm really worried.
thanks

 

[mediazeal]

I hope someone has had a chick with this condition and can offer some help.
I have given Polyvisol a couple of times now.
Chick is standing better (of course he's had 12 hours to recover from my 'helping' with hobbles etc.)
He still has the condition but my first inspection of the day shows he is again more mobile and seems to be standing straighter
walking still has a leg out, but maybe not as much.

Anyone ever have a chick recover?
what should I expect?