Hi there chicken lover friends,
Since April 16th I have been nursing a baby chick with a leg that darted out to the side. (Slipped Achilles tendon...) Thank you for all you have posted on here.
My daughters K class hatched 12 eggs and I got them being as I am the only one around here with chickens already. I just wanted to tell you my story about 1 little baby chick named "Sugar".
This little chick was hatched with the slipped achilles tendon, looked like the one that was posted on this site.
After reading, and re-reading and reading some more, I started trying to fix this little bird, as culling (or killing) this little sweet creature is not in me. I am writing to tell you that there may be some hope here to fix a chick with this problem. Try to fix it before ending its life.
My little bird is a fighter. It eats and drinks great. It has lots of energy and is fighting. (Keep in mind that the events I am listing has happened in the last 3 weeks or so)
I hobbled the chick, thinking that the problem was just that it couldn't get its leg under itself. The hobble fixed the leg to a point. I noticed that its toes were curled, so did the achilles stretch. The toes came uncurled. I noticed though that it couldn't walk with its toes properly, so put a shoe on it and hobbled it again. The toes became staight but I noticed that it still walked funny on its foot (which it would try to walk but it wouldn't put any weight on its foot) and saw that its leg was twisted looking.. So I did the stretch thing again, not sure form the lack of info out there as to HOW to know wether or not you have the tendon seated properly. I wrapped Sugar's tendon in cotton, and splinted it. We tried to make a "chick chair" but there was no way that Sugar was going to sit in there and stay. My husband suggested making a sling and suspending the chick so tht it would not hurt its fixed tendon. We took an old sock and cut leg holes and a poop hole. Placed the chicks legs in the holes and fashioned it so that it was all supported. I got out the banana hook that I don't use any more and we used a binder clip to hold the ends of the "sling" to suspend Sugar. I made a feed dish out of a turned over yogurt container and taped a feed dish to it with water right next to it so that it could eat any time it wanted to, and started supplementing the B vitamins and the E vitamins. I recently re-wrapped it's injury b/c Sugar grew a little and now it is in by itself with a new boomerange shaped splint, slightly hobbled, trying to learn how to walk now.
This is where I am at. Sugar is a fighter and this has been enlightening. I have grown attached to this chick and hope that this fixes the problem. My friend says that she had a gimpy chicken that led a full life, so it's not the end of the world if all I tried to do doesn't fix it.
My words to you are just try. You never know what God has planned.
Since April 16th I have been nursing a baby chick with a leg that darted out to the side. (Slipped Achilles tendon...) Thank you for all you have posted on here.
My daughters K class hatched 12 eggs and I got them being as I am the only one around here with chickens already. I just wanted to tell you my story about 1 little baby chick named "Sugar".
This little chick was hatched with the slipped achilles tendon, looked like the one that was posted on this site.
After reading, and re-reading and reading some more, I started trying to fix this little bird, as culling (or killing) this little sweet creature is not in me. I am writing to tell you that there may be some hope here to fix a chick with this problem. Try to fix it before ending its life.
My little bird is a fighter. It eats and drinks great. It has lots of energy and is fighting. (Keep in mind that the events I am listing has happened in the last 3 weeks or so)
I hobbled the chick, thinking that the problem was just that it couldn't get its leg under itself. The hobble fixed the leg to a point. I noticed that its toes were curled, so did the achilles stretch. The toes came uncurled. I noticed though that it couldn't walk with its toes properly, so put a shoe on it and hobbled it again. The toes became staight but I noticed that it still walked funny on its foot (which it would try to walk but it wouldn't put any weight on its foot) and saw that its leg was twisted looking.. So I did the stretch thing again, not sure form the lack of info out there as to HOW to know wether or not you have the tendon seated properly. I wrapped Sugar's tendon in cotton, and splinted it. We tried to make a "chick chair" but there was no way that Sugar was going to sit in there and stay. My husband suggested making a sling and suspending the chick so tht it would not hurt its fixed tendon. We took an old sock and cut leg holes and a poop hole. Placed the chicks legs in the holes and fashioned it so that it was all supported. I got out the banana hook that I don't use any more and we used a binder clip to hold the ends of the "sling" to suspend Sugar. I made a feed dish out of a turned over yogurt container and taped a feed dish to it with water right next to it so that it could eat any time it wanted to, and started supplementing the B vitamins and the E vitamins. I recently re-wrapped it's injury b/c Sugar grew a little and now it is in by itself with a new boomerange shaped splint, slightly hobbled, trying to learn how to walk now.
This is where I am at. Sugar is a fighter and this has been enlightening. I have grown attached to this chick and hope that this fixes the problem. My friend says that she had a gimpy chicken that led a full life, so it's not the end of the world if all I tried to do doesn't fix it.
My words to you are just try. You never know what God has planned.
