Splayed Leg - when is it too late?

[Pandapop]

So let me start with this... my incubator crapped on me on hatch day. It didn't 'break' but it started heating wrong and wasn't keeping humidity level. I'm thankful it made it to that point (at least), but I was forced to help hatch 5 eggs that were stuck for over 24 hours. I know this is generally something you should NOT do unless absolutely necessary (which I believed this was), and when I chipped away the shell, the chicks were barely moving and "shrink-wrapped." So had I not intervened, they would certainly be dead.

They're doing great now! Eating, drinking, pooping... running. Typical chick stuff.

But two of these five babies have splayed legs. Just one leg, not two. Both have it on the right leg. (There was a third with splayed legs, but it quickly resolved itself without my help.)

I force hatched these eggs on the 26th of this month, so it's been a few days now. I've tried the shot-glass method and it's not working... at all. The babies just wiggle their bodies until that one leg is stuck straight up.

They're getting around just fine, they're as fast as the normal babies. I'm just concerned this is going to kill them later on.

What can I do? They're so damn tiny.

 

[lutherpug]

I've only dealt with one splay leg chick but my first thought is go ahead and try to fix it, you won't know until you do. I had to keep the chick separate from the other non splay legged chicks and make sure it got plenty to eat and drink but the chick did great and is now running around full speed with the others. Go ahead and try it. I used the bandaid method with mine and had to fuss with it a bit to get it at the correct tension but it was a cheap and effective fix. If I remember correctly, it took a little over a week before I was comfortable removing it.

 

[Fishkeeper]

Try the little bandaid hobbles. At worst, you'll annoy them with it for a week or so.
Splay leg won't kill them in the future, but as they grow, it could be harder and harder for them to get around. Best to try and fix it now.

 

[Pandapop]

The one thing that concerns me about the bandaids is it sticking to their skin when I go to remove it... on human skin, after wearing it a couple of days, most bandaids are really stuck on there. But it sounds like a safer alternative to using tape. I guess I'll go ahead and try that, to see how it goes.

 

[CoturnixComplex]

My instinct says that the Band-Aids won't stick as badly to little scales, but I'd check and replace them every day or two. They grow that fast anyways!

 

[Fishkeeper]

From what I've seen, the bandaids just kinda lose their sticky and fall off after a few days. All that activity.