Just Hatched Chick Can't Walk

[eads0explorers]

Hi all! We are very new here and just successfully incubated and hatched our first 2 chicks yesterday afternoon!

One of the eggs had cracked during the incubation process a week ago today. We thought we would lose the little guy but read about nail polish or wax to seal the crack. We did both for good measure.

Well, that same chick seemed very weak when it finally hatched, had curled toes and couldn't stand. We gave him time to rest but saw no improvement. The other chick just kept zipping all over the place and this one just flopped about getting stepped on at every turn. I read about splinting his curled toes, so before we went to bed last night we used Bandaids to straighten them out.

His legs are not splayed, they just stick straight out behind him and he lays on his belly. He is able to push himself along a little bit, even so much that this morning he was on the opposite side of the brooder. He seems to go between being lethargic or in distress.

I can't go out this morning to TSC (I am home with 5 kids, including one with a full blown case of chicken pox...ironic, huh?) Otherwise I would have gone out to see if i could find something. I am going to have my husband stop on his way home. In the meantime I put him in his own little box away from the other chick. Then I fed him some water with ACV.

Is this a disease or a hip/leg injury or malformation? Did the cracked egg cause it? What else can I do to help him, if anything?? Thanks for any advice!

Here is a picture of his predicament:

 

[lazy gardener]

Hi all! We are very new here and just successfully incubated and hatched our first 2 chicks yesterday afternoon!

One of the eggs had cracked during the incubation process a week ago today. We thought we would lose the little guy but read about nail polish or wax to seal the crack. We did both for good measure.

Well, that same chick seemed very weak when it finally hatched, had curled toes and couldn't stand. We gave him time to rest but saw no improvement. The other chick just kept zipping all over the place and this one just flopped about getting stepped on at every turn. I read about splinting his curled toes, so before we went to bed last night we used Bandaids to straighten them out.

His legs are not splayed, they just stick straight out behind him and he lays on his belly. He is able to push himself along a little bit, even so much that this morning he was on the opposite side of the brooder. He seems to go between being lethargic or in distress.

I can't go out this morning to TSC (I am home with 5 kids, including one with a full blown case of chicken pox...ironic, huh?) Otherwise I would have gone out to see if i could find something. I am going to have my husband stop on his way home. In the meantime I put him in his own little box away from the other chick. Then I fed him some water with ACV.

Is this a disease or a hip/leg injury or malformation? Did the cracked egg cause it? What else can I do to help him, if anything?? Thanks for any advice!

Here is a picture of his predicament:

Can you get him in a little cup, so that his legs are under him, and he is propped up into a semi sitting/crouching position? That might help him to get his legs under him, and start exercising them, standing appropriately. You can put some sugar in his water for now. Have your husband pick up some Poultry Nutri-drench on his way home. You can put a drop to the side of his beak and it should wick into his mouth so he can swallow it. I do not put drops directly in chicks mouth as I feel it makes them too prone to aspirate. You can put some PND into the waterer so that it looks like weak tea, but you need to change it daily as it is prone to growing bacteria. If he doesn't straighten out within a day or two, you should consider culling him. WElcome to BYC, and wishing you the best.