Spraddle Leg

[sowellj]

I had two chicks hatch sometime after 1:00am this morning. They were in the incubator at 4:00 when my husband got up. The incubator is small (Brinsea Mini advance) so I took them out and put them in a brooder. They are sleeping quite a bit, but when the big one gets up (I think it is an easter egger) he doesn't seem to be able to move on his feet very well. His legs aren't out to the sides but he did fall over on his back once and couldn't get up. Is it too early to tell if he has spraddle leg? They can only be a few hours old. I have them in a brooder with shaving and a puppy pad over that.

 

[Happy Chooks]

I'm certainly not an expert. Mine did seem to take a day or so to get steady on their feet. If it continues to have problems when the others are up and moving around, then I'd worry.

 

[sowellj]

Thank you, I didn't know if they were suppose to be more active than the ducklings or not. The ducklilngs were all over the place. The one chick seems to have a heavy bottom and he is scooting around. His legs aren't sticking out to the side but he just isn't raising up on them.

Another one hatched about 20" ago. Since I have not seen any of them hatch except for this one, can he have some membrance stuck to his rump? It isn't yellow. He is still in the incubator.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Might be the umbilical? What does it look like?

 

[sowellj]

I just went in to try and get a picture of it but it has fallen off.

 

[Happy Chooks]

It was probably the umbilical then. That's good that it fell off on it's own. I had 1 chick tear itself open by pulling too hard from the yolk sac. It's fine now, but I was really worried for a few days.

 

[sowellj]

They are soo cute! They are very sleepy.

 

[kathyinmo]

They are very sleepy.

Oh yes, they worked very hard to come out; now they need some rest! The first couple days, when they are absorbing they yolk, they do seem to sleep alot! I can almost tell when they have absorbed all the yolk ... as suddenly they run around like crazy and eat all day!