Help! Just-hatched baby duckling can't walk right!

[ellie97]

My tiny baby Pekin duckling that just hatched out today (good, job, Kylie) has something wrong with her legs/feet and can't walk properly. She gets around, but her feet almost buckle underneath her and she trips all over them and is forced to stagger along. How can I help her? She seems healthy otherwise, eating and drinking and alert. Already imprinted on me. Can I home-make some kind of braces for her? I will try to get up a video of her trying to walk....She's only about 4-5 hours old right now. (8:30 PM, Tuesday, June 5th)

 

[Amiga]

From anything I have seen on the forum, you need to give her several more hours before you start to worry. Do you have gro gel? It has vitamins and probiotics for a good start.

Hatching is hard work, they say, and ducklings need quite a while . . . several hours at least, perhaps a day, before they are strong enough to really get around.

I hope a hatch expert will confirm my impression of the time it takes for ducklings to start walking around normally.

 

[Mickiesmadhouse]

Someone sent me this pic of a bird with a homemade splint - she worked for wildlife & fisheries - I have no knowledge of if it worked or not, but thought I would pass it on.

Caption on picture. . .
This is some of the kick *** stuff we do at my work. 4day old baby pea chicks with weak leg deformities. Their little legs being supported, splinted, and cushioned with an ordinary kitchem sponge. Love this

 

[ellie97]

Thanks! I will give her another day, and if she doesn't recover, I will try to make a splint. She is already on a vitamin supplement.

 

[Champagne4us]

Hello, my name is Cindie and I know this is an old thread but the only one I can find on the topic. My baby duckling ( big white parents) hatched 2 days ago and one of its leg joints is locked in the closed position. Can’t stretch the leg out or walk. It’s like the joint is fused in the upward position. Any thoughts or reasons this would have happened. Been that way since she came out of the egg. What if anything can I do for her? My 5 th one to hatch this week. Thank you!

 

[Miss Lydia]

SLIPPED Achilles Tendon in Hock Joint
Click here to read one little chick's success story of recovery from a Slipped Tendon & Perosis.
Click here to see a video of movement patterns of one chick with Perosis. Editor's note: The video says Perosis can't be treated after 24 hours, but I have not seen any other source say this, so I don't know that is true.
Editor's note: My limited personal experiences with trying to treat Slipped Achilles Tendon have not been successful. Some other people report they have had several successes. However, from my research, it sounds as though the majority of people find that if a few manipulation attempts don't correct the problem, additional attempts only cause significant unnecessary suffering and don't help the chick. Information listed below may not be sufficiently informed. Please do additional research to ensure best treatments. [If you have a success story, photos, or treatment tips, it would be very helpful if you would Contact PoultryPedia so they can be shared to help others!]

• Slipped Achilles Tendon is a condition that results when tendon that runs down through the groove on the back of a bird's hock has slipped out of place off to the side.
• This problem causes a serious form of Splayed Leg that cannot be corrected until the Achilles Tendon is put back in place. It may also lead to Twisted Leg and other problems if not treated soon enough.
  
• This problem frequently occurs in conjunction with Chondrodystrophy / Achondroplasia & Perosis, conditions in which nutritional deficiencies in parent bird's diet keep chick's bones from developing properly to hold tendon.
  • See "Ensure adequate nutrition to prevent Perosis" section on this page to be sure that your chick feed has appropriate amounts of essential nutrients, and try supplementing in extra if your chick is showing a problem.

• Symptoms:
  • The back of the hock will look flat (Compare to other legs to double-check).
  • The bird won't be able to fully straighten its leg by itself.
  • The bird will likely exhibit pain at least the first few days after injury. Birds may peep or cry repeatedly.
    
  • The joint will become swollen after a while.
  • Hold the joint between your thumb & finger and roll it back and forth. If the tendon has slipped, you will feel it snap back into place (and back out again, if the bone is not sufficiently developed). If you don't feel the tendon pop in, your bird may instead have a rotated femur, which requires surgery.
    
  • One leg may rotate out to the side or twist underneath the bird (showing Splayed Leg), depending on whether the tendon has slipped to the outside or inside of the leg.
  • If the tendons are slipped in both legs, the bird will stand & walk hunched down / squatting on its hocks ("elbows"), and may use its wings for balance.
• Treat this problem as soon as possible, so the joint doesn't swell as much (making healing more difficult) and the tendon does not end up shortened or deformed.
  • If the tendon has been out of place more than a few days, it may be unbearably painful to the bird to try to fix it or may cause damage. You could try gradually stretching the leg the leg a number of times a few days to lengthen the tendon, & then try correcting the placement.
    • This is especially true of young chicks because their legs are growing so quickly. Various bones, tendons & muscles will have done a lot of growing in just a couple of days and may have become too short, long or twisted so they can't allow the Achilles tendon to be back in the correct location.
• To reposition the tendon into the correct place: Gently pull the upper part of bird's leg a bit behind normal position and then carefully straighten the leg as though bird were stretching its leg back in a pretty normal stretching motion. Press gently against the side of the tendon if needed, and it should pop back into place pretty easily and cause little if any pain. Gently release the leg and it should return to a normal bent position.
  • Some sources recommend pushing the tendon back in place just by pressing with your finger. However, stretching the leg back is a much less painful method.
• Sometimes a tendon has a hard time staying in place. It may have been out of place for too long or a chick's hock groove may not yet have developed enough to hold the tendon well (Be sure to provide very good nutrition to support optimal bone growth at this time. Do NOT give Calcium or other nutrients in excessive amounts, however--that could cause other problems.).
  • You can repeat the repositioning of the tendon additional times. This may help the tendon gradually lengthen & shape correctly, while the bone is also growing enough to hold the tendon better.
    
  • You can put the tendon in place & then ***wrap the joint area with sports tape*** or other tape to help hold it there. Use a thin strip of tape wrapped several times around the joint. Change the tape after a few days to ensure it doesn't restrict circulation too much.
    
  • It will also help if you put the bird in a Chick / Chicken Sling or Chair and/or put its leg in a cast (such as one made from a bendable drinking straw) for a few days (~5) while re-alignment stabilizes.
    • (Note: There is some debate on whether it is better for feet to not touch the ground--as recommended below-- or to touch the ground a little. Please research further when making the choice.)
    • It is important for the legs not be able to reach the ground. The bird needs to be suspended with its legs just hanging freely or in not-too-tight casts shaped in normal bent angle. In this position, the chick won't try to use its legs as much. Its legs need relaxed rest in their normal position until the tendon(s) have stretched and adjusted back to the right place and shape.
• Even after the tendon is back in place, the bird may continue to have some problems walking for a few days. If so, use a Hock Cushion(s) to protect its hock(s) from chafing & bruising during recovery. Limber the leg by gently stretching the leg several times a day, as you did when repositioning the tendon (Check to make sure the tendon stays in place.). If the chick struggles to figure out correct movements, Physical Therapy or short sessions in a Chick Cup (More info to be added.) may help.

• You can try taking the bird to a veterinarian for a tendon th
• You can try taking the bird to a veterinarian for a tendon that won't go into place or won't stay in place. The veterinarian may try surgery or other treatments. Click here to read one little chick's success story.
  
• However, costs can be expensive with various vets, results are not guaranteed, and the effort involved is significant. It may be appropriate to put the chick down instead.
  
  
• If there is swelling on hock:
  • If infection is part of what is causing joint to swell, there will be pus in the area, though it may be hard to definitely identify beneath the skin. In this case, recovery is usually not possible, and would be EXTREMELY difficult. In almost all cases the bird should be put down to avoid additional suffering.
  • If swelling was just caused by displacement that has now been fixed, swelling will go down in 2-4 days.
  • If there is non-infected swelling & initial attempts to put the tendon back in place aren't successful, you may try putting the bird in a Chick Chair for a day or two while giving nutritional supplements. This can allow swelling to go down before trying again, and possibly allow the groove to more fully develop correctly. Be sure to regularly stretch/extend the leg during this time to help the tendon lengthen.
    • *Be aware that Chick Chair treatment requires a lot of work, and it may not be successful and may only prolong suffering.
  Ensure adequate nutrition to prevent Perosis leading to Slipped Achilles Tendon &/or Twisted Leg
• Perosis occurs in chicks that are at least one week old and can be in one or both legs..
• It starts as Chondrodystrophy / Achondroplasia (cartilage & bone development problems) and can involve slipping of Achilles Tendon and twisting of long bones (condition called Twisted Leg)
• Symptoms: Enlarged, flattened hocks and short, bowed legs, along with slow growth. Chick may look dwarfish. One leg may stick out to the side, or there can be a variety of other leg angles.
  • This condition often DOES result in a slipped Achilles tendon--See Slipped Achilles Tendon.
• Treatment: Deformities will not necessarily be completely eradicated but may be lessened by adding appropriate balanced supplementation and/or switching to Chick Starter or Grower Feed that has been commercially formulated.
  • Manganese, choline, biotin, manganese, &/or zinc can be factors in Perosis & may need to be increased. Pyridoxine, folic acid & niacin deficiencies may also affect, and need to be corrected.
  
  Maybe this is what the problem is sounds like. Hope this info helps.