Quail chick has paralyzed leg and can’t keep its head upright

[Frootloops]

This is my first time taking care of chicks while all of them came out healthy one in the incubator was having trouble hatching and after waiting for the recommended 24 hours to see if the chick could break its way out by itself I assisted it.

But now that it’s out it seems the reason why it couldn’t fully break out of the egg by itself is because one of its legs can’t move fully and is stuck facing backwards (I attached a picture showing) and can’t lift its head up by itself.

I really want to try helping it survive but I can’t find solid help based on these symptoms no matter where I’ve looked. All I’ve done so far is put it in a container in the incubator to help keep it somewhat upright and keep it from being trampled by the healthy chicks. I’m willing to feed and give it water every two hours if there’s any hope but I don’t want to do that if it’s just going to suffer for no reason because of an incurable disease or condition. Thank you for reading please if there’s anything you know I’d really appreciate it..

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Have you (gently) manipulated the leg to try to determine what's going on? If it's a slipped tendon, it may be correctable, but it could also be some type of deformity.

I'd start by offering a supplement like Poultry Nutri-Drench to help address any nutritional deficiencies. It may also help perk the chick up.

There are many threads on raising special needs chicks on here, so it can be done. Best of luck!

 

[Frootloops]

Have you (gently) manipulated the leg to try to determine what's going on? If it's a slipped tendon, it may be correctable, but it could also be some type of deformity.

I'd start by offering a supplement like Poultry Nutri-Drench to help address any nutritional deficiencies. It may also help perk the chick up.

There are many threads on raising special needs chicks on here, so it can be done. Best of luck!

Thank you so much for the response, I’ve tried to figure it out and so far I have an idea of what’s wrong.

Both the baby’s toes are curled, probably was contributed by the difficult hatch and one of their legs is splayed or a slipped tendon.

I’ve figured out what I can do for the toes but have no idea what’s the difference between a splayed leg and a slipped tendon and if the physical therapy I see you can do works on both.

The biggest problem is that the baby isn’t eating/doesn’t know how to eat. I’ve been able to make them drink by dipping their beak in water but that’s harder with food. Would egg yolk be a good substitute for now? And does the egg yolk have to be the same breed of bird? Sorry for the trouble