I have a Salmon Faverolle chick that has had a rough past week. It was an assisted hatch that hatched with terribly curled toes and legs that cannot seem to straighten. One has recently developed into spraddle leg despite efforts to keep them tied together and multiple daily massages. I've tried the "chick chair" and have kept the legs tied together but without any improvement. Administering vitams and
Its apetite seems to have picked up, but it still cannot eat or drink on its own. I worry, between work and college classes, that I cannot be home often enough to feed and water the chick more than once in the morning and multiple times in the evening. It cannot walk, merely slides along the brooder floor... or hobbles in circles. It is loud, feisty, and seems active considering... but it has been a week without any improvement as far as movement.
I am slowly coming to the realization that I might have to cull this chick. I'm going to keep trying as long as I'm not doing more harm than good. I can't tell if I am keeping this chick alive and in tremendous pain or if there is somehow still some hope...
The hocks, by the way, are awfully swollen. Legs wont bend straight... I'll straighten and massage them multiple times daily, but movement has not improved. Today, I took it out of the chick chair and allowed it to rest next to the other chicks. It's been awfully distressed the entire time, hates the chair, but seemed to calm right down as soon as I let it close to its hatchmates.
Bummed. How long should I keep trying? And what is the easiest, quickest, least risky way to cull a chick if I must do so? It would be my first chick cull, and certainly most traumatic. I want to hold out for a miracle, but I'm also trying to be realistic...and not keep the chick barely hanging on and in pain for my own selfish reasons.
Its apetite seems to have picked up, but it still cannot eat or drink on its own. I worry, between work and college classes, that I cannot be home often enough to feed and water the chick more than once in the morning and multiple times in the evening. It cannot walk, merely slides along the brooder floor... or hobbles in circles. It is loud, feisty, and seems active considering... but it has been a week without any improvement as far as movement.
I am slowly coming to the realization that I might have to cull this chick. I'm going to keep trying as long as I'm not doing more harm than good. I can't tell if I am keeping this chick alive and in tremendous pain or if there is somehow still some hope...
The hocks, by the way, are awfully swollen. Legs wont bend straight... I'll straighten and massage them multiple times daily, but movement has not improved. Today, I took it out of the chick chair and allowed it to rest next to the other chicks. It's been awfully distressed the entire time, hates the chair, but seemed to calm right down as soon as I let it close to its hatchmates.
Bummed. How long should I keep trying? And what is the easiest, quickest, least risky way to cull a chick if I must do so? It would be my first chick cull, and certainly most traumatic. I want to hold out for a miracle, but I'm also trying to be realistic...and not keep the chick barely hanging on and in pain for my own selfish reasons.
