Slipped Tendon baby chick, real bad

TeresaT

In the Brooder
11 Years
Jul 14, 2008
67
0
39
SW Virginia
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.

smile.png
Teresa
 
If it hatched out that way, it could be a different underlying issue and more than just a slipped tendon. I would give it about a week and try to splint it some how before deciding what is best for the little guy. If you don't split it sooner rather than later, it is likely to fuse in its current position because their bones harden up within the first few days of life. Good luck!
 
Ok. I will splint it tomorrow. Will it be able to get around with a straight leg like that? How will it sleep? How should I splint it? With a bandaid or two at the joint? Should I bandaid it's leggs together too like they do for splayed leg? What do you think? Thanks for the help by the way too.
 
Hard to tell without seeing, but I'd probably try to splint the joint straight if it is at the joint, or go with the splayed leg type treatment. Probably won't like it so much, but it may give it a chance at life even if it looses a bit of sleep. You can try putting it in a sling made of felt or an old cloth to get pressure off the leg. However, if for some reason the joint or muscles of the leg or lower back didn't form right, which is actually pretty common if there was big temp swings in a bator or some other incubation issue, the leg might not be able to be fixed. Good luck!
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom