- May 11, 2010
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I hatched some silkie cross chicks for the first time in an incubator about a month ago and all of them are doing fine except for one that has a very strange skeletal deformity that i have never seen before.
his head and neck are hunched over and to the side always and he has trouble putting weight on his legs. I hand-fed him the first few days of his life and helped him hatch also because he had been in his egg for quite some time (a few days) but he had pipped and zipped.
I'm not sure if they are in pain or not since they cant tell me themselves. they are very small compared to the rest of the group but are still eating, drinking and pooping on their own. they can sort of walk sometimes but its kind of a sideways stumble and he stays on his haunches most of the time. he gets stepped on alot by his brothers and sisters..
so far as for treatment i have tried everything i can think of. leg braces for splayed legs of all sorts, a teacup chair (this helped him gain a little strength the first few days until he was strong enough to jump out), vitamins, egg yolks, sugar water, and idk if there was anything else.
this is him when he was a couple of weeks old. he looks the same only his feet now point in opposite directions and he has a few feathers. he hasnt grown much in size but he has grown a tiny bit. def not as much as his siblings however.
all his brothers and sisters should be about the same size since their moms are all pretty much the same size and no bantam eggs were in the incubator. they are all silkies crossed with Barred rock, delaware, and some kind of normal sized red hen
him with a normal chick
they are currently in a brooder with paper towel bedding and are soon going to be moved into a larger brooder inside my coop/barn.
his head and neck are hunched over and to the side always and he has trouble putting weight on his legs. I hand-fed him the first few days of his life and helped him hatch also because he had been in his egg for quite some time (a few days) but he had pipped and zipped.
I'm not sure if they are in pain or not since they cant tell me themselves. they are very small compared to the rest of the group but are still eating, drinking and pooping on their own. they can sort of walk sometimes but its kind of a sideways stumble and he stays on his haunches most of the time. he gets stepped on alot by his brothers and sisters..
so far as for treatment i have tried everything i can think of. leg braces for splayed legs of all sorts, a teacup chair (this helped him gain a little strength the first few days until he was strong enough to jump out), vitamins, egg yolks, sugar water, and idk if there was anything else.
this is him when he was a couple of weeks old. he looks the same only his feet now point in opposite directions and he has a few feathers. he hasnt grown much in size but he has grown a tiny bit. def not as much as his siblings however.
all his brothers and sisters should be about the same size since their moms are all pretty much the same size and no bantam eggs were in the incubator. they are all silkies crossed with Barred rock, delaware, and some kind of normal sized red hen
him with a normal chick
they are currently in a brooder with paper towel bedding and are soon going to be moved into a larger brooder inside my coop/barn.
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