- Jun 2, 2010
- 10
- 0
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I have a chick, about 1-2 weeks old (3 nests. They all hatched at different times.
), and just starting to feather her wings. She (at least, I hope it's "she") was the absolute last to hatch by a few days, and the only reason she was so lucky is that she started pipping during the day, and by the time she came out, the hen and her other chicks had come back to the nest for the night.
Anyway! I'm fairly certain she was stepped on and otherwise neglected, since the next day Momma Hen hopped off and left her. She's been living in my long, shallow Crock Pot under a desk lamp since. Her right leg sticks out straight behind her, although she and I can bend it. I felt a knob that might have been a break just above her hock, but it doesn't seem to be broken now. (It doesn't move, in other words. Just a bump.) Up by her him, it feels ... bumpier, I guess, than her left hip, but I don't want to rip her leg off trying to fix what might not be a problem.
I've been using different methods to make sure she keeps her leg folded under her, to keep the tendon from tightening up: holding her cupped while I read, wrapping her in gauze for a while when I can't hold her, etc. She flops around with her good leg and wings, wiggles the bad one to try to get it under her lately and the past few days she's tried to stand on the good one, unsuccessfully. She eats and drinks when the dishes are in front of her, her poop's a good color -- she seems healthy. Should I hobble her like for spraddle?
tl/dr: Chick's a few weeks old. Right leg doesn't feel broken, but sticks out straight behind her. Otherwise perky & healthy. How do I tell what's wrong, and how do I fix?
Anyway! I'm fairly certain she was stepped on and otherwise neglected, since the next day Momma Hen hopped off and left her. She's been living in my long, shallow Crock Pot under a desk lamp since. Her right leg sticks out straight behind her, although she and I can bend it. I felt a knob that might have been a break just above her hock, but it doesn't seem to be broken now. (It doesn't move, in other words. Just a bump.) Up by her him, it feels ... bumpier, I guess, than her left hip, but I don't want to rip her leg off trying to fix what might not be a problem.
I've been using different methods to make sure she keeps her leg folded under her, to keep the tendon from tightening up: holding her cupped while I read, wrapping her in gauze for a while when I can't hold her, etc. She flops around with her good leg and wings, wiggles the bad one to try to get it under her lately and the past few days she's tried to stand on the good one, unsuccessfully. She eats and drinks when the dishes are in front of her, her poop's a good color -- she seems healthy. Should I hobble her like for spraddle?
tl/dr: Chick's a few weeks old. Right leg doesn't feel broken, but sticks out straight behind her. Otherwise perky & healthy. How do I tell what's wrong, and how do I fix?
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