Need help with a newly hatched chick (Pics)

[youngenbreeder]

i have a newly hatched silkie that has strabble leg. so i taped the legs together with masking tape and it seems to be leaning so far back that it cant stand up. can anyone help please.

sitting on its bum

my tape work

please reply, thanks

 

[LarryPQ]

I am not sure what your question is...perhaps you can elaborate.

Your tape job looks good, assuming the chick can still shuffle.

 

[youngenbreeder]

the chick cant stand up. his legs are just hanging forward and all his weight is backwards?

 

[rekabnivek]

Look in the June/July issue of Bcakyard Poultry mag. They have a really good article about spraddle legg. They use a band-aid for the support. It is on page 40. They say to cut band-aid lengthwise, place chick on back. Legs too close together, chick will be face first. Too far apart and it does no good. When set correctly the chick can sit and stand correctly. When removing be careful not to pull on joints. The author of the article has an email address for contacting her, [email protected]. Good luck.

 

[GrannysRoost]

So how old is it? just hatched? They flop and flog for a while until they get their ground legs...?

 

[youngenbreeder]

i was thinking i could redo the tape?

 

[Gypsy07]

Even perfectly healthy chicks can sometimes take a day or more to get their feet under them and be up and hopping about. Think how much more difficult it's going to be for a weaker one with its legs taped together! It might take a day to figure out how to stand up without falling on its face, which is probably why its sitting back on its hunkers and not standing up. I hatched a splay legged duckling last week. When I taped its legs it spent most of the first day falling over and lying on its belly with its legs stuck straight out behind it. I picked it up and set it straight a few times and by the end of the second day it was up and bouncing all over the brooder with the other two, and I was able to take its hobble tape off very soon after that...

Edited to add: If you want to redo the tape, you might want to cut a thinner strip, as in cut it lengthwise along the strip of tape before you apply it. The idea is to stop the splaying, without restricting other movement, so the thinner and more pliable the tape, the better. You might also want to tape the chick's legs ever so slightly closer together. But that's just suggestions for slight improvement - what you've done already is good and looks like it should work fine. Just give the chick some time...

 

[Rhode Island momma]

I had one like that with my first chicks, I separated him from the others because they would walk all over him. Then I gave him electrolytes for 3 days at a time, advice from a friend. After a few weeks, he started walking normal and now you can't tell apart from the rest. Some chicks just have weak legs when they are born. make sure they aren't on a slippery surface.

 

[iluvsedward]

I've heard a loop of yarn criss-crossed in an 8 type shape slipped over each leg works