Splay Leg Chicks

[TerrasCritters]

Alright so I hatched 2 sepereate batches of chicks from 2 different stock.
The first hatch great, the second, the only 3 that survived have splay leg, not real bad they still get around walking but theyre legs are not under theyre body they are out to the side. I have never had issues with this before so its kind of got me wondering, could there be any chance this is a hereditory thing?
Ok so the flooring is the same I have used for other birds the first few days, I use wash clothes, lots of traction and the shelf liner with the holes in it thats kind of foamy? Not sure what its called, I have used both for awhile now with ducks chickens quail and I have used it with my parrots in the past when I had parrot babies to hand feed etc with no issues.
So I dont get why just these three have this splay leg.
They are a couple days old and I got there legs hobbled now using this Splay Leg Method
http://eggcentricaviary.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1139078293
A good friend of mine uses this with her birds who get splay leg with good results some others use foam with holes cut to slip the legs in and others use bandaides. I have never had to hobble before.
So I am a bit worried, my friend is coming to pick them up tomorrow as they are hers.
They seem to be uncomfortable etc rolling around the brooder, they can stand up on there feet and there legs are close together, the sting is checked frequently to make sure it doesnt tighten up.
I am not sure how long we should keep the hobbles on the chicks, I sujessted a week, then take them off and check them out.

They just look so uncomfortable and I have to keep a close eye on them to make sure they are able to eat and drink, they have the quail waters so they cant fall in and drown they are very clumsy with the hobbles on.

Anyway, anyone else expereinced this and have it fresh in your mind? What did you do?

Please spare me the cull them posts and I really dont want to hear about that, everyone deserves a chance at life even if they are not PERFECT in YOUR eyes, thats CRUEL and even know they cant be top breeders because they have a deformality, if they can eat drink and poo on there own they can be someones special needs pets, or whatever. So please spare me that advice. I would never let anyone suffer if they cant take care of themselves.

 

[dlhunicorn]

A deficiency (possibly in the breeder parents) is often also involved...give POLYVISOL (liquid childrens vitamins) three drops in beak once a day for a week then taper off as this often is helpful in addition to the splayed-leg bandaging.

 

[TerrasCritters]

Can these be bought at like walmart?
Thank you

 

[PurpleChicken]

Walmart may have it. If not a local pharmacy will.

Is it possible your bator temps were too high?
How long ago did they hatch and what breed are they?

With our limited hatch experience I have seen some chicks go nuts
a few hours after hatch and others that take a few days to really perk up.

I doubt anyone will come on and say cull them at this point. If they are
really unhealthy they won't last more than a few days anyways.

 

[TerrasCritters]

Most Walmarts have Pharmacy's....

They are a couple days old, same temps for this batch of eggs as the other batch of egg that hatched pretty close to them with in days, my bator had been running for awhile at same temps etc, one batch is ok the other batch isnt. I dont think its the incubator.
It just has me thinking what the heck!
I run the big GQF Sportsmans and Little Giants.
Its just odd, here we are paying this top dollar for eggs we think are "Great" and half end up with not as many toes as they should have, skin not colored right, chicks not colored right.
These are Black Silkies from Virginia and were suposed to come from PURE black stock. 1 of the chicks had ALOT of yellow all over it.
This is not the first batch that has had issues with the eggs not being what is promised, I have had friends buying eggs thinking they were one thing bantam somethings and they end up being BR.
I guess thats what we get for trusting all to easy. But paying the high prices you better getting what your promised and when you dont...Ugh it WILL bite you in the ....
Wow, where did that come from lol


After these chicks have had the hobbles on for awhile now they seem to be getting around ok for the most part and are still stand up ok etcI hope this works out for them. If not I will still love them.

Thanks for all the input

 

[KKluckers]

I totally understand your frustration. It is hard sometimes when there are people who promise you will get great birds and they fall short. You just have to learn for your mistakes and who you can trust. With hatching eggs it is a gamble but you should get what you ordered.

 

[dlhunicorn]

That was going to be my next question...if they were from your birds I was going to suggest you give those parents a general nutritional/vitamin supplement (just in case it was not due due incubator issues)

 

[TerrasCritters]

Yeah, nope they were not from my birds, shipped eggs. GRR I hope I can correct them. Would it be possable they could pass it to there offspring? If so I dont think I would consintrate on them being breeders, and maybe just pets and food egg layers? Or even natural broody hens, if you were able to tell the difference in the eggs.

Thanks for all your help!

 

[dlhunicorn]

The chance in my eyes that this is genetic is low.