New Chick...Gary Larsen-like

[lesliedow]

So, I swear we have the Boneless Chicken ranch chick. 8(

We've got a chick, the only one that hatched out of our first attempt, that has not stood yet, has curled toes and lies like a Gary Larsen-class boneless chicken.

Here is a pic of him today about 30 hrs post-hatch. I figure that the problem is based on too-high humidity during incubation, but is there anything we can do for this little guy now? He's a scrappy little fellow that we want to do right by.




We've been giving him sugar water with B PolyViSol vitamins. He was peeping unconsolably and the other chicks (bought from the Feed and Seed) were stomping on him so we removed him from the brooder, wrapped him in a soft paper towel and held him against our chests through several football games. 8) He seemed to be happier when held against our chests. the sad peeping stopped and he slept.

My son, below, has become chick-momma.





Obviously, we cannot hold him all night. We've made a hopefully inviting brooder for him in a drawer with a furry-duster, a heating pad on low and balled socks for comfort.


So, our questions are:
He has not stood and while he tries to pull his legs up under him it does not seem to work. Is he likely to ever stand? Is there anything we can do to help him?

We tried booties but they seemed to make his swollen legs worse. So, we removed the booties and applied neosporin.

Any suggestions are gratefully welcome!
Thanks!
Leslie and Gustav...and Chick C.

 

[Judy]

Maybe something here will help

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

 

[lesliedow]

Thanks, we actually found that site yesterday and tried the booties. But they seemed to cause the bird pain or distress so we removed them. We also called a local breeder who suggested that we not do anything for a week, that the chick may stand on its own by then and after that we can try to address the feet.

He had a pretty good night and seems a little stronger today. The heating blanket-feather duster brooder was soothing. We'll see how today goes.

Leslie

 

[imtrying]

i have had a chick with splayed legs. i used something similar to what's show on the link above. at first, the chick stumbled around and wasn't too sure of what was going on but after two or three days, the chick was completely better. now, you cannot tell anything was ever wrong. you can also make a "shoe" like thing for the toes.

all of this said, if the issue is splayed legs and curled toes and not something else, you want to treat it immediately. the older they get (and we're talking about days here), the less chance you have of correcting of the problem.

good energy coming your way.

cheers.

 

[lesliedow]

Thanks for the comments! We're really at a loss here.

Does the picutre above look like splayed legs? All the pics Ive' seen of that have the legs going out to the side. this chick's legs hang straight out behind him. If we support him in an upright position, the legs stay under him but don't support him. Is that splayed legs?

I guess we better get the booties back on him today, tho. It's so sad because it seems to give him a lot of distress when we do.

Thanks!

 

[imtrying]

yea, it will stress him. but the alternative is worse. he obviously cannot live if he cannot walk/move. or, he, at least, cannot live a chicken's life that way.

yes, from the picture, it appears his legs are splayed. but, i think it's fair to say i'm looking at a picture. i don't know how the chick is acting, his environment, etc, etc. pictures can only tell you so much.

with one of my chicks (who had legs going backwards like yours), i fancied something that kept his legs under him - - it kept both legs close together as they should be, but also went up over his neck to keep both legs under him instead of falling behind him. does that make sense? it looked like the picture from the link above, but with an added strap over his neck to keep his legs under him. he didn't look all that hot, but it worked.

 

[lesliedow]

Thanks! We've made chick boots for him out of moleskin pad topped with a bandaid. The moleskin is great becausee it is sticky but its made for tender blister skin. We used kiddee bandaids so maybe they will be less sticky. We made a splayed leg strap but then decided that he'd had enough for awhile. So instead we made a do-nut out of socks and placed him sitting upright, back in the hospital brooder...aka my son's sock drawer.

He does seems stronger today. He sure fought hard. He or she's a tough little scrapper. fingers crossed.

Leslie

 

[lesliedow]

Well, we are sorry to report that the little guy passed last night. He was such a feisty little one, and we very much hoped he would make it. I am sure if there is a special place for chickens he is there.

Thanks to everyone for their help.

Leslie and Gustav

 

[imtrying]

<3