help with my chickie

[preschoolchick]

This is our first hatch, and we have one chick that has been a "troublemaker" since hatch. First she hatched and the shell stuck to her back. After countless hours (thank goodness for this board!) my husband and I got it to come off on it's own using droppers of warm water.

Now this sweetie is having a hard time with her leg. She gets around, walks fine but when she lays her right leg kicks out to the side. She can perch on my finger, and eats and drinks. She is TINY...half the size of the other chicks but also one of the last to hatch. We got our mix of eggs through 4H as a preschool project and they are all different types, so is her size just that she may be a smaller breed of chicken, or is it related to the leg?

My husband is joking that I want to make it my "Special needs" chicken and have it live in the house. She is just the sweetest thing though! My "go to chicken person" told me not to help her and let nature take it's course, but I just feel like if I CAN help then I owe it to the chickie!

Any ideas??

 

[MoodyChicken]

Sounds like a splayed leg. That's easy to fix. Make a hobble for her by splinting above and below the hock with vetwrap/bandaid. She'll likely panic with the hobble on, so it's best to isolate and restrain her (make her a nest so she'll sleep and not stress). You'll need to feed her every couple of hours though. In a few days she should show improvement or be fixed. Good luck!