New hatch with twisted foot (upside down)

[affacat]

Whew. This is my first hatch ever, and I was already stressed by my chick being stuck in her shell.. well, I successfully got her out but I think her foot is either deformed or injured.

Any fix ? Time? How many hours should I give her to fix this up?

Ps - thanks to @JennyHeidewald for help getting this little one hatched. I will be sad if I have to give up on her

 

[affacat]

Holding her now. Feet look fine if holding her, if I put her down it's upside down and she can't stand

 

[JennyHeidewald]

Aww, so cute!! So glad I was able to help, it's really hard to know when to help with some of them.
Ok, now that I see it better it looks like curled toes, I found a great page that shows how to make a little shoe for her in order to straighten the toes, sit's farther down the page: http://www.longhill.farm/splayed-legs-and-curled-toes-in-chicks-how-to-fix/

 

[Shezadandy]

Something is definitely wrong, though the chick seems to be able to stand up. At this point they're like little balls of rubber so you have the best chance of fixing it or maybe at least giving the chick a functional leg if you start working on it today.

The curled toes procedure might work- from the picture it's hard to tell if it's just curled toes or if that foot is just pitched out the wrong direction. If you have a band-aid box -cut out the outline of the foot and each toe, it makes a good platform. And the tiniest strips of vetwrap you can imagine, it will take really sharp scissors.

edited to add: I actually used the sticky side of a band-aid to "glue" the toes straight onto the band-aid box cardboard instead of vetwrap. I also put a band-aid on the bottom of the band-aid box cardboard to give good traction.

This will take patience and if you have someone to be the second set of hands, it helps a lot. You may also want to try hobbling the bad leg to the good leg to see if you can get it in a functional position if it turns out that leg is splayed.

 

[RoyalChick]

I can’t read the link for some reason but vitamin B2 (riboflavin) deficiency can be a cause if curled toes. Is she able to walk?
It is easy enough to give her some B2 supplements in their water

 

[JennyHeidewald]

I agree with Shezadandy. Couldn't tell if it has a bit of splay leg as well, or if it was from the foot issue.
I once had a newly hatched chick I thought had spraddle/splay leg, but it just turned out it needed time to get strength in its legs, and was fine the next day. Thank goodness, because I was having the hardest time trying to do a brace with vet wrap, but it was only me, and I failed. Such tiny little legs and flailing. Two sets of hands is a definite plus!

 

[Shezadandy]

It's been a while since I had curled toes. This is a picture of the end result. I used band-aid box to make the outline of the foot (using the good foot!) - then I used just the sticky part of a band-aid. This one healed up within the day, but there was no extra twisting involved, just the toes. So scratch the vetwrap- forgot that I used the band-aid instead!

 

[affacat]

She can stand now. Not sure if her leg is also splayed or not, but at least her foot is mostly corrected (as best we could)

 

[Shezadandy]

I agree with Shezadandy. Couldn't tell if it has a bit of splay leg as well, or if it was from the foot issue.
I once had a newly hatched chick I thought had spraddle/splay leg, but it just turned out it needed time to get strength in its legs, and was fine the next day. Thank goodness, because I was having the hardest time trying to do a brace with vet wrap, but it was only me, and I failed. Such tiny little legs and flailing. Two sets of hands is a definite plus!

Totally! Itty bitty legs and even smaller toes. The one in the picture above would not stop peep-screaming before I taped his toes. Once his toes were straightened out, he went right to sleep and was happy.

I agree that sometimes the splay legged ones (talking the first day) just need the night as you've noted. Because I found myself with one that I couldn't do, I gave it to the broody hen and the next day it was all good.

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She can stand now. Not sure if her leg is also splayed or not, but at least her foot is mostly corrected (as best we could)

Great job! What you could do with this chick is some gentle physical therapy. Chicks will naturally push up into your hand, so long as it's warm, just like they will under the hen to get warm. If you make sure it has good traction (i.e. on a washcloth or similar) and just cup your hand over the back, i.e. your palm will be over its back. The chick should try to press its back into your hand, sort of like little push ups. And it's good bonding time too. =)

 

[affacat]

She is an Energizer Bunny, hasn't stopped moving since the hatch. I was holding her for a bit with my finger pad keeping her foot spread before @JennyHeidewald provided the shoe link.

Now she's doing laps around the incubator. Still trips over eggs but might be doing better?

Might have splayed legs? Not sure. Trying to get a good picture.