Splayed leg

[Emtay]

Hello, I am new to being a chicken mommy. I work at a school where one of the older classes hatched eggs & one of the chicks was born with a splayed leg. I of course decided to take her in until she got bigger because she was getting picked on by her siblings. We splinted it when she was just a few days old & she began to walk on it fine after about a week so we took the splint off. We tried splinting it again about a week ago to see if it could get any better & it only seemed to make her fall over more. She was able to get to her food & water perfectly fine by hobbling over to it/using her wings to help pick herself up. Over the past 3 days it's gotten much worse to where she keeps falling over & the leg is completely turned the opposite direction & her one good leg is starting to be effected by it too. I am very lost as to what to do & very sad at the thought of giving up on her. She's about 2 maybe 3 months old. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Pyxis]

Can you post a picture? You say splint, do you mean you put her in hobbles to bring the legs closer together? If it was splayed leg putting the hobbles on should have corrected it in a few days, maybe even a week. Now that she's older and the bones have hardened that's not going to help her and she may be disabled for life.

 

[Emtay]

The pictures are a little blurry but in the one with her sitting next to the blue towel that's how she gets stuck, she falls over onto her backwards leg & then just sticks her good leg (the one that faces forward) out into the air. & when I say splint I just mean we used little bandaids to hold her legs together to try & correct it yes. It worked for a while but idk what's happened over the past few days. She just keeps leaning so far over on that backwards foot that she tips & rolls over

 

[Pyxis]

What are you using for bedding?

You can try the hobbling again and see if it helps any or corrects it.

 

[Emtay]

I put a towel down then I put shavings over top of it. & my only concern with hobbles is that she falls over or her little legs just get crisscrossed. Idk if there's anything other than bandaids I could use?

 

[Emtay]

& if the hobbles don't work what should I do...? She can't go much longer not being able to get to food & water on her own

 

[Pyxis]

I put a towel down then I put shavings over top of it. & my only concern with hobbles is that she falls over or her little legs just get crisscrossed. Idk if there's anything other than bandaids I could use?

That bedding is fine, she should be able to get a good grip on it. Vet wrap is very nice for making the hobbles, it sticks to itself but not feathers or their legs.

& if the hobbles don't work what should I do...? She can't go much longer not being able to get to food & water on her own

At that point there's not much to do. You'd have to make the call about her quality of life and may have to put her down.

 

[Emtay]

Will a vet put her down?