Hi All. I want to in advance thank everyone on this website and their hosts for such a wonderful job. I hope one day I will be able to contribute as much info as all of you do. It has helped me tremendously in getting my chickens healthy, keeping them healthy and in a healthy environment as well as getting them better when they have problems.
Now to the emergency. I hatched about 20 chicks when I decided to clean out the bator in between hatches and used bleach. I don't know if the bleach residue caused harm or it was bacteria or something that caused the soggy chick syndrome (or whatever you call it), but I was left with just one chick alive out of 4 and its leg is really bad. From my searches it sounds like the tendon slipped on its leg joint. I have been feeding and watering him with a dropper and giving him poly visol, but his joint is so swollen and tight I can not tell where the tendon is, much less fix it, in this case. His one semi-good leg has feet that turn in so I made him a shoe for that one, but can I wait until the swelling goes down before I can officially fix his other leg? That one has a shoe on too for his toes, but his leg has a big sore that I have been putting neosporin on (probably from when he was scooting around in the bator) but I feel horrible b/c I did not realize what was going on to begin with. So, my main question is can I wait a little while to till that goes down to slowly fix it or what should I do. He was born on Friday. He is chirping away, but cant sleep to good with the shoes on. He just kind of stands there and puts his head down in the standing position resting on his knees. Any advise would be great. I read about splints, but he is under so much sress and his leg twists outward and it looks like it needs to heal first. Sorry this is so long, I am trying to put as much info as possible. I have him separate from the other chicks too. He does not have leg spraddle either, so I know its not that.
Thanks so much for all your continued support. I promise to make it up to all of you.
Teresa
Now to the emergency. I hatched about 20 chicks when I decided to clean out the bator in between hatches and used bleach. I don't know if the bleach residue caused harm or it was bacteria or something that caused the soggy chick syndrome (or whatever you call it), but I was left with just one chick alive out of 4 and its leg is really bad. From my searches it sounds like the tendon slipped on its leg joint. I have been feeding and watering him with a dropper and giving him poly visol, but his joint is so swollen and tight I can not tell where the tendon is, much less fix it, in this case. His one semi-good leg has feet that turn in so I made him a shoe for that one, but can I wait until the swelling goes down before I can officially fix his other leg? That one has a shoe on too for his toes, but his leg has a big sore that I have been putting neosporin on (probably from when he was scooting around in the bator) but I feel horrible b/c I did not realize what was going on to begin with. So, my main question is can I wait a little while to till that goes down to slowly fix it or what should I do. He was born on Friday. He is chirping away, but cant sleep to good with the shoes on. He just kind of stands there and puts his head down in the standing position resting on his knees. Any advise would be great. I read about splints, but he is under so much sress and his leg twists outward and it looks like it needs to heal first. Sorry this is so long, I am trying to put as much info as possible. I have him separate from the other chicks too. He does not have leg spraddle either, so I know its not that.
Thanks so much for all your continued support. I promise to make it up to all of you.
