Need Help with a baby chick

[pjcalvo]

Hello All,

I have wild chickens and every now and then a little chick gets left behind in my yard. Today i have a little chick who is about a month old (i'm guessing by the size) who has been left in my yard. It seems as if it has a broken leg - it limps and it's little foot is curled and doesn't seem to work. The chick is eating, drinking and seems to be pooping just fine. Can anyone tell me if there is anything I can do.

Thank you

 

[Judy]

You can splint it with some vet wrap for a few weeks, though it will likely never walk normally. Here is an article about leg and foot problems:

https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry

 

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

Are you able to handle the chicken? It could very well have a broken leg, or perhaps she maybe just pulled a leg muscle. Another thing I was thinking was maybe it has something stuck under it's foot (a thorn or other sharp material). It could also have a foot infection? If you are able to handle this bird, I would reccomend cleaning the bottom of her foot with baby soap (or baby shampoo will work too). And scrub it with a tooth brush. Check her foot out for any sore or cut. If you cannot find anything then you will be able to rule out foot problems and move on to treat leg problems.

 

[pjcalvo]

i did catch it and i have it in a box with some straw in the house. this little chick just showed up today and it was eating and drinking fine. i did finally catch it, just before dark and it seems to be doing ok. i checked the foot, no visable injury. it was dragging it's foot while trying to walk around. not sure if it's a leg or foot issue. the mortality rate of chicks is very sad as there are lots of feral cats, not to mention the cars, feral dogs and not so nice people who simply don't like them. I will read up and see if there is anything we can do for this little one. thank you

 

[pjcalvo]

wow, thank you for the article. i am not sure what the problem is but i will read and hopefully find something to get this little one back on his feet!! we usually have 1 or 2 chicks in the house per week as someone always get left behind. So far this is only the 2nd injured chick we've found. unfortunately, the first one didn't survive, it has been mauled by a cat and had terrible puncture wounds that were several days old before it showed up here. thanks again