Spraddle Leg in Older Chick?

[annanicole18]

I have a mutt chick that my broody hatched that is 7 weeks old. I thought it was moving funny the other day but the chicks are so wild its a chase to catch them. This morning went out and the chick is having major difficulty walking and running. Legs are kinda splaying out like spraddle leg but they are truely barnyard chicks with momma since hatch so nothing should be slick enough to cause that because they can choose to stand wherever they want. Does anything else cause spraddle leg like symptoms in both legs?
Chick has been captured put in a brooder with think layer of shredded paper so a non slip surface.
Thanks

 

[AHappychick]

I am not sure what would cause it, but I had a chick with splaid leg and took it to the vet and this is what I learned.

When the chicken has real splaid leg (I may be misspelling it) the bone in the join is rotating the wrong way as it grows, and as the chick gets older it worsens as it turns more and more. The vet said there are some surgical procedures but most don't work well as birds are so delicate and it would not be worth it with a barn yard chick.

It can happen in one joint (leg) or both and will continue to rotate until almost at a 90 degree angle.

Feel the joint you should be able to feel it working differently from a healthy chick (its good to have a comparison.) see if the joint is rotating wrong. if that is the issue you can do a few things

you can try to brace its legs but if this is the problem there is little point. there is a method with a band aid where you basically shackle the legs to each other so they can only spread apart enough to walk. or try to brace in some other way.

see if it learns to adapt with no intervention

or Cull. If both legs are splaid this is what I would do. If you look at my past threads I have nursed many birds back to health, I am not above tube feeding, slings and attempting home surgery. But if it is splaid leg there are really no good options because as the joint rotates the chick will no longer be able to walk at all, and with both, well it would be next to impossible for it to have any quality of life.


So sorry. maybe it is not splaid leg but you should be able to tell if it is. this can be a vitamin deficiency problem in the parents so if you have barnyard chickens you may want to make sure that the hens are getting everything they need to be healthy.


ETA Spraddle leg is different if it has that then the baind aid or braces could fix the problem.

 

[Dogscatschickens]

I have a chick that did the same thing. I found her unable to walk on March 31. I have brought her inside put her in a wooden box... and she is now standing a bit. But she mostly gets around by scooting or pulling herself by her beak. Everyone I talked to said cull, however, no family member could do it. So, soon she will be outside in a rabbit cage and have supervised visits with the other chicks.