
This chick is actually MUCH improved. When she arrived, we were a heartbeat away from culling her, but decided to watch awhile first. She could not stand up on her feet at all, and was always tail-up, face-down like this. (ETA--not with legs spread apart sideways, like spraddle-leg.) The only way she could move about was to use her tiny little WINGS as "crutches." I am not even kidding.
We're not big on heroic measures when it comes to survival of the fittest livestock, but we're not cull-happy, either, and she didn't have any apparent pain or distress--she didn't know there was anything wrong with how she was.
As long as she was able to eat and drink by herself, we decided to just watch and wait. Now, a week later, she still can't quite stand up straight like the others, but she CAN lift herself up off the bedding and stand in a kind of crouch, and she can now walk and even run short distances using just her feet and legs, without hock-walking or using her wings as crutches.
When resting, the tail-up posture remains predominant.
I really pretty much expect her to make a full recovery at this point. And also to make a fool of me by proving to be a boy.
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