Possible rotated femur-Going to Avian Vet tomorrow-please read!

[easttxchick]

I had a Black Sumatra chick that hatched out last weekend with, what looked like, splay leg. We treated for splay leg, but she showed no improvement.
Today, we took her "splints" off to see how she was doing and noticed that, while standing still, her left thigh twists outward and her foot twists almost 180 degrees backward. She can actually walk OK, it's just when she stands still that she does the twisting thing.
She seems to be in no pain, eats and drinks well and is a very spunky little thing.
I am very concerned about her quality of life as she gets older and her ability to integrate.
Anyone have any experience with this? If so, what was your outcome?

 

[easttxchick]

Hey folks-I am going to an Avian vet tomorrow that specializes in ortho stuff.
If you can think of any questions that would benefit all of us, please post them because I don't think very many of these kinds of vets actually exist!
I know to many of you, it is absolutely ridiculous that I am going to these lengths for this chick-if that is the kind of comment you have-I don't want to hear it, what I want to do is possibly get some info that would be helpful while I have his ear.

 

[oesdog]

I wish I had loads of interesting questions for you - Ahhhhhh have mental block and in aw that you have the ear of this fellow. Good on you that you are taking so much trouble for this chick. - Actually you could ask what is the best treatment for a brocken leg in a chicken???? And what is the likely recovery? We all have chicks from time to time that get into diffs and break bits of themselves. It would be good to know if anything can be done better to help them?

Well done hope all goes well with your chick and you can give us all feedback!

Oesdog -

 

[mmaddie's mom]

I'm just going out to do 4 hours of mowing

, so I will spend some of that brain-dead time trying to think of some good questions

... you might as well get your money's worth!

i am subscribing to this thread to find out how this all ends up!

 

[dawg53]

You could ask the vet if there are any over the counter vitamins that could help strengthen tendons, muscles etc...for your chicks condition. If you could post the results/answers here it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[easttxchick]

OK, went to the Avian vet today-he was AWESOME! Talked to me for about an hour and only charged me $40.
He took care of my baby and told me that in a few months(once she has grown a bit) they will help me out by not charging me a gazillion dollars and put a pin in her leg!

He also told me the best cure for "splay leg" is to stick them in a bowl with padding all around them-also to use masking tape instead of bandaids due the stickiness issue.
He taped my babies FEET together(not her legs)-we had them VetWrapped at the knee-he said that was too low. Also told me that if in a week or two there is not any improvement to actually tape the feet to where they overlap(overcorrecting so to speak) to torque that ligament/tendon/bone back where it needs to go.
He said there are no supplements to feed to strengthen bones and tendons-said GOOD quality feed should meet all of their nutritional needs.
Also told me that WE tend to be the cause of feather picking in our birds by stressing them out(including domestic birds). He said we are taking a creature that has only been domesticated a short while(in the grand scheme of things) and put them in a situation that is not innate to them.
Really fascinating guy.
I know he told me more stuff, but I can't remember it all right at this moment.
Thank you for your interest, guys.

Just wanted to share with you all what I learned today and am hopeful to have access to more information in the future.

 

[mmaddie's mom]

Lots of good information... great vet... you are blessed and highly favored!

As you think of other things that he said, pass it on.

So glad there is a good prognosis for your baby!

... and thanks for sharing.

 

[dawg53]

easttxchick- Thanks for the valuable information. There's plenty of splayed leg problems in this forum and you'll be able to refer them to this post. You're so lucky to have an avian vet, and who doesnt charge an arm and leg, $40 well spent! I've been very fortunate not to have this problem when raising chicks. Thanks again for posting the results.

 

[BWchicken]

Please tell me who and where this amazing avian vet is! I'm in east Texas and desperately need a REAL avian vet.

 

[easttxchick]

BW I sent you a PM.