Newly hatched chick with leg problems

[Ember_Rain]

I have a chick that just hatched this morning. I've hatched them before but these were supposed to hatch on Saturday and here it is Wednesday. I was about to compost the eggs when I realized it had pecked a hole in the shell. All day long she has kept one leg tucked up close to her body and the other out straight behind her. She struggles to stand pushing against the floor of the incubator but she has yet to be able to. She constantly chirps as though she is in distress. I can pull the leg that is tucked up down but as soon as I let go of it, it goes back up. I can't have a house chicken. I have a small dog and several cats that are already showing interest in the noises coming from the incubator. The little dog has already killed one chick we bought this week. I got them on Monday when I was sure these weren't going to hatch. So its alone in the incubator, and it can't stand up. Her feet look fine and her legs aren't off to the sides. Has anyone ever seen this? If so is there anything I can do to help?


Nevermind... it died.

 

[asher]

I’m sorry

 

[ChickenCurt]

The chick was in the egg too long. In the future help them hatch the day after they are due. The outlook is grim for this chick but I have had them learn to work through it. It takes a lot of hands-on work to do it though. If you let them work it on their own they will most likely keep falling and possibly even break their wings. Hope things go well.