spraddle legs

[happychicks]

i have a 1 month old chick that has spaddle legs did the band aid treatment but hasnt work what should i do i feel bad he does eat and drink but cant walk just sits there and flaps his wings

 

[Josie]

If the chick hasn't been corrected by one month I would be worried. I have never had to deal with spraddle leg (mainly because I can't hatch an egg to save my life), but most people who have happy endings are working with day olds or around there. Not to say you shouldn't try.

Some people have had success with adding vitamin B supplements to the water.
Here is a link to one of my fav spraddle leg stories at Sweetwater Poultry,

 

[SharonX]

I have a brand new (October 9) sex linked Plymouth Rock-Barred Rock black pullet who was fine and then in the past 4-5 days cannot stand and toes are curling and she was toppling over. She was fine when I first got her home, now she seems partially paralyzed, but will eat and drink. She sits spraddle-legged most of the time.

I read where she may have a riboflavin deficiency so I ran and got some VitaFlight for her water as it listed the most ribroflavin. So far she seems a bit improved. Her toes are not curling and she readily drinks the mixture from my dropper.

The other pullets have been on the same chick starter, so I am at a loss. I have this one separate so the others do not pick on her.

Anyone else have this problem? I do not want to lose her.

 

[nnbreeder]

Check out the slipped tendon portion of this link.
http://www.peafowl.org/ARTICLES/1/

 

[ewesfullchicks]

One out of 500 chicks arrived spraddle-legged, so I don't believe that IN MY CASE it was a vitamin deficiency. I tried many different things to tape up the legs, bind them together, etc., but all failed.

This little chick has such a will to survive, that I've placed her in a very small group (15) so she doesn't have a lot of competition for food. She's much smaller than her fellows, but is healthy and vigorous.

I just didn't have the heart to euthanize a vigorous little chick who was born with a deformity. None of the other chicks peck at her not working leg (which is now stretched out behind). I know she'll never be a productive member of her flock - but I feel that I can "carry" a handicapped little pullet.

I've really agonized about this, but feel that as she was born this way, this is all she knows, and I simply cannot kill her just because she's "different". She seems perfectly content.

AFTER it was too late, I came across something on the internet that showed "chicken in a box" as a cure for spraddle-leggedness. It's too late for me to know if this would have worked, but I really did try really, really hard.

Can slipped tendons be cured the same way?

 

[SharonX]

Thanks for the replies. Somehow I think this one of mine has a neurological problem (more than a physical deformity) as she acts kind of spastic as she tries to right herself and walk. She sits on her hocks all day and hobbles over to the feed.

She is a fine size and was fine when I bought her. She seems somehwat better after the vitamins. Her toes are not curling but sticking straight out. She acts like a person with muscular dystrophy, all wobbly and spastic as she tries to ambulate.

 

[SharonX]

My little pullet is much better. She is now standing even if a bit wobbly. I think from reading from "Diseases in Poultry" that her symptoms were most like "riboflavin deficiency". Since I started putting bird vitamins in her water with highest riboflavin (VitaFlight) from PetsMart, she has improved a lot and is drinking and eating well.

I am thinking she will survive now. She jumped on the fresh corn kernels I gave her. I think vitamins in the water for baby chicks may be very important. Like people, some will tolerate low levels of vitamins in their food, while others may not thrive without them.

 

[SharonX]

Here is an update on the pitiful pullet, Black Sex Link, Bella. She is great now. From looking like a parapelegic and spastic to a big girl running across the yard with the other girls. She is doing wonderfully. I highly recommend bird vitamins for anyone with a pullet or cockerel who has trouble standing or has curly toes or falls over a lot.

In fact, giving bird vitamins to newly hatched pullets and youngsters couldn't hurt -- might help. I highly recommend them.

I am so happy. Bella is one of the biggest and seemingly agile of them all (9). And I thought she was surely a goner in her first month of life.

 

[magsrags]

good to know the vitamins worked for you! I'll have to remember your advic.

 

[SharonX]

Yes, she is just fabulous now. Amazing what those bird vitamins can do for a spastic, curly toed, spraddle-legged, baby chicken. I am so thankful I found something to help her.

Here she is recently in all her glory!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/17431_chrisblacksexlinkx.jpg