Spraddle Leg Treatment for Feather Legged Chicks

[suebee]

 

[Donnah23]

I have one chick w/ hair down its legs? Is there some thing wrong with the chic?

 

[Donnah23]

Is that a silkie, a chic, w/ hair down to its feet?

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

I use bread ties for my feather footed chicks. Same concept, just bending instead of taping

 

[debbruther]

I have a baby silkie I am doing the bandaid method with right now. I just put the bandaid on and it is currently still laying on its face. I have been dipping its beak in water every couple hours because it can't get up and drink. Do you think this method will work for this baby. Legs where not totally spraddled one is just pushed out to the point it can't stand or walk.

 

[milkweedz]

hello............I just hached a spraddle legged cochin...I have tried the bandaid method..I cut another bandaid and placed some left- over stickum on the area that touched the leg , that way the bandaid was a stickless tube around the ankle...its been a week for us here .experimenting...
she can walk..but peeps alot....is that the case for you?

 

[watergoddess]

i did this but the chick keeps falling over? is that all right?

 

[watergoddess]

nm shes fixed! that was super quick! im glad i noticed it so soon! it only took 24hours for the leg and 10hours for the toes! she went from not walking at all to running!!!

 

[suebee]

So happy my post worked for you! Chicks have a strong will to stand so they usually learn within a day or two with this method. And sorry for not answering your questions earlier.

 

[windyridgefarm]

Here is yet another alternative others may want to try. I found it so much easier and think it will work well especially for older chicks and or feather legged chicks.. does not come off and no need to replace them often.
I had a chick that was hatched with wry neck and spraddle leg. I tried the band aid method but no matter what I did it kept coming off one leg. The result was that she would do better for a day then it was off and she would be back where she started only worse because now she was yet another day older. Finally she was doing better so I took it off, only to find her spraddle leg again after a few days. I think one of other larger chicks must have trampled her. It did not help that the wry neck kept her balance shifted to one side and made it hard for her to walk well. Now that she was older. I wanted to come up with another method. I tried a version of the rubber band method but it didnt work well for her. However it gave me the idea to use the small snap on leg bands( 8mm) I had from ebay one on each leg tied together with string. These miniature shackles worked well but I found it even better if I place an additional leg band on each leg as a spacer to keep the shackles lower down on the chicks legs. Now she is walking so well with them on I am temped to leave them in place for an extended time. I also separated her from the other chicks as I should have in the first place (as recommended in the reading I did on the treatment of wry neck) She has had so many setbacks. It was heart breaking. I came close to putting her down so many times, but now I feel we have reached the turning point. If you dont have leg bands you can use zip ties. Hope this helps someone else...