One of our baby chicks is deformed

[homeschooler]

This is our first time hatching eggs. they were born 2 days ago. we have RIR and one is deformed. one of his bones is sticking out and he can't walk on his right foot. also, his feathers aren't really growing on that side either. is there anything i can do? he wasn't eating at first and he is much smaller than his siblings. he is eating now, but not drinking, except by a straw sometimes. he is getting stronger and is getting around much better today than yesterday. is there anything i can do about his leg? i've attached a picture.

thank you!

 

[OreoPlymothRock]

Oh! that poor Little Chick! I wish i knew what to do. i wish i can give you an answer! Im sorry

 

[Yopeeps]

Are you able to post a better picture of the deformity you are talking about? When were they hatched?

 

[donrae]

I would cull it.

 

[homeschooler]

Here is another picture. they hatched on Monday. the pink part coming out to the side is a bone sticking straight out to the right. Does this help any?

What does cull mean?


thanks for your help.

 

[garbagePaw]

Aw poor baby He doesn't look so good. To cull it means to essentially put it out of it's misery.

As a vet tech I can definitely say that exposed bone will make your chick very likely to get life threatening infections and illness.

 

[champer]

Is it the hip joint?

 

[homeschooler]

the bone isn't exposed, per se. just that it grew wrong, i think - and the feathers aren't growing there. it could be the hip joint, but i don't know how to tell. is there a way to tell if it is the hip joint? it's very tender to the touch. i mean, it hurts him if it is touched at all.

 

[LaynaDon95]

He doesn't look good. You might need to go ahead and put him out of his misery. That's a really odd deformity. I don't see how he could live happily like this, but can watch him better than me.

 

[donrae]

In this case, cull means kill it, put it down, give it mercy, put it out of it's misery. I doubt it's going to live long anyway.