Slight Case of Spraddle Leg in Chick, have questions

[ChickensAreSweet]

I don't have anything helpful to add but wanted to say that your chick is absolutely adorable and I love the picture where it is looking down at its feet!!!

 

[PoultryPedia]

Hooray for your recovering chick!!!!!

That's awesome you're starting the physical therapy, too!

How many days old is she now? From the looks of your pics & with what you're doing, I think you have a very good chance of her walking getting corrected.

 

[Sphinx]

She was hatched very late Saturday night, so she's about 24 hours shy of a week old.

I don't think she's trying to walk around as much with this new hobble on, which has me worried. I do think that maybe there's an improvement, here's a picture I just barely took. What do you think? Also, I'm wondering if I should be making the hobble a tiny bit wider in the middle? It seems like her hock is still a little turned in.






Also, I still have my "chick cam" still set up, if you want to watch her live:


http://www.mycampage.com/acaptivechicken

Thank you so much for all of your encouragement and advice. It's been so wonderful.

 

[PoultryPedia]

You are welcome! I love to be able to help people & their birds if I can.

SO CUTE to watch on your webcam!! Thanks for setting it up!

I think having the hobble a tiny bit narrow isn't a bad thing right now. That should motivate her to rotate the foot forward to help keep her balance, whereas giving more "wiggle room" might make her comfortable turning the leg & bracing out for balance. Frequently reach in & tip her weight onto the rotated leg, so she has to try out better balancing, & so she doesn't try to just compensate by standing on the one leg.

I think it's fine for her to stand more & walk less right now, especially if you tip her a few times every so often, so she practices & finds out that turning the foot forward can help her balance.

A week is fairly old when working on corrections, so this will take extra care that the hobble stays on right always, plus a fair bit of therapy. But I think her chances are pretty good.

I'd try to watch & make sure the tape stays stuck snugly right around her legs as much as you can. Then the cardboard and center tape have the most effect in helping keep her hocks apart.

 

[Sphinx]

I took her hobble off tonight after some therapy, and did a little more. She's been having me work with her 8-10 times a day.

I let her go around a little bit without the hobble, and frankly, I see no improvement, which is very disheartening to me. I did make her newest hobble a little bit wider, hoping to get her hocks more separated. I've noticed she's trying to walk around a little more, which maybe is good.

I'm going to continue to work with her, but I'm feeling extremely pessimistic and discouraged about now.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I just thought I would mention that I have read threads on BYC about how a chicken only has one leg yet hops about the yard and copes quite well.

Maybe the little one will cope somehow even if she doesn't correct her stance.

 

[Sphinx]

I just thought I would mention that I have read threads on BYC about how a chicken only has one leg yet hops about the yard and copes quite well.

Maybe the little one will cope somehow even if she doesn't correct her stance.

Thanks for your kind words and encouragement. I really needed to hear that. I guess I got kind of hung up on the idea of her possibly being injured in the future if she was mounted by a (as yet nonexistent) rooster.

 

[PoultryPedia]

Sphinx--
That's rough that things aren't going as well as we've been hoping! It may be (though I hope not) the case that her brain may not be able to be correctly reprogrammed at this point.

It would be good to add in walking therapy each session. The chick may begin to really experience the feeling of the right motion & as you gradually "walk" it along farther each time, it will observe that that motion accompanies getting from point A to point B & may begin experimenting when it wants to get somewhere.

Best wishes

p.s. If it'd be helpful, when you try walking therapy I could watch on webcam & see if I can give any useful observations? PM if you'd like to & let me times that might work for you.

 

[Sphinx]

That would be lovely if I could have you watch me try to do walking therapy, speckled hills. Today is kind of hectic for me though.

I took the hobble off for a little bit yesterday to see how she was without it, and I think she's even worse now if there's no hobble.

I got my dh to watch her to get his feedback. He's a mechanical engineer specializing in lower limb prosthetics. I know it seems like a jump, but he had some really helpful suggestions on the hobble and brace, and wrapped it in such a way that it's MUCH more difficult for her to turn her foot out. It's made walking a lot more difficult for her, but her leg looks so much better, so I'm thinking I should've had him do this a few days ago. Poor chick is suffering from my incompetence as a chicken physical therapist and orthotist.

 

[PoultryPedia]

Wow!!! That is so cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's wonderful that he was able to use his people-related expertise in helping your chick!

Please share with all of us the learning & discoveries you have, and I'll also add the info to the Poultry Podiatry page. I'm sorry for any mis-help I may have provided.

I hope the revisions will really help Hulksmash