Spraddle/Splayed leg or...?

[ChickDancer]

Lately I've had a few chicks hatch that can't stand or walk within a few hours like they are supposed to. But their legs don't actually spread out to the sides, either. They do walk on their hocks like a spraddle leg chick will sometimes do. But their actual feet are up by their head - or higher!

Again, the feet don't spread out to the sides. The legs seem to be in line. It's just that they are walking on hocks, and want to have their toes in the air.

Unfortunately, this usually means the hocks get bloody, torn up, and eventually calloused. The first two chicks that had this problem have passed away. Now I've got two more with the problem. Both hatched within the last 24 hours, and I've already taped their legs together using self-stick bandaging wrap (cut to size). I've also been using a syringe to give them Vitamin B droplets to drink. But they STILL want to walk on their hocks.

Is this another form of spraddle leg? And how would I go about fixing this - when the chicks already want to keep their legs in line? They just want to carry their legs too far FORWARD and UP in the air.

 

[ChickDancer]

After posting this, I continued to research it, and found the answer a few minutes ago - and NOT on BYC, either!

Turns out this is an achilles tendon that has either slipped off of the bone at the hock joint, or just didn't grow into that groove to begin with. The site I foundsaid to rub the hock joint with thumb and index finger, and feel for a snap or pop for the tendon to slip back into that groove where it belongs.

I did that, and I felt it on both legs of both chicks.

It stated a vitamin deficiency was likely to blame, which I can see, because both of the mothers of these chicks were free range and rarely came back to eat the purchased feed. So they probably weren't getting proper vitamins after all. The site also stated temperature fluctuations during incubation could be at fault, which is also possible from this hatch from the AC going out.

The fact that they had feet up by their heads had more to do with their attempts to balance and stand up while only walking on their hocks. They can't really straighten their own legs with this issue, so when they tried to "stand up" on their hocks, their feet merely bent upwards to their head.

The good news is, I can fix it. I did pop the tendons back in, but they had not quite developed the groove in the bone for it, and it kept popping right back out, so I had to wrap it again. They're both back in an incubator with a scarf curled into a "donut" to hold them. Tomorrow I will check on progress, feed them, give them fresh water, and rewrap if needed.

But I thought I would share the results of my search in case anyone else ever had this problem. Maybe it was covered here somewhere already. But I didn't find any posts here about it in a search, so I'm making one now.

 

[Eggcessive]

It's hard to tell what the leg problems are sometimes, but giving riboflavin (B2) in your B vitamins may help. Be cautious with Poultry Nutridrench since it has everything BUT riboflavin, after doing some looking. Many leg issues are caused by a lack of vitamins in the parent stock, but also from a deficiency of trace elements like manganese and others. So make sure your adults are getting some extra vitamins/minerals from now on. I'm sure you probably have seen this site, but here t is along with another about slipped tendon: https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry
http://www.poultryhub.org/health/disease/types-of-disease/leg-and-skeletal-problems/

While doing some research I see you may have found the problem. Would you mind giving the site or link where you got the info?

 

[ChickDancer]

Actually, it was the first site you linked - PoultryPedia.

I loved the fact that it listed LOTS of leg problems, and told you how to tell if that's what you were dealing with, and THEN telling you how to fix it. It gave me the chance to compare their "symptoms" to several other problems.

As for changing the diet of the parents, I can't anymore. That's part of why I am so determined to fix these, and correct the issue - I lost a HUGE part of my adult flock to predators. I finally kinda gave up and put them all in the one main (super-secure) pen together. But I won't have purebreds now, and I only have three adults left! But between now and next spring, my focus is security, and THEN replacement.

This one however, would have been a challenge to replace. It was a half-bantam EE hen (large fowl dad, bantam mom) that had bred with a bantam frizzle. So the chicks are likely to be frizzled EEs - not very common. And with her gone now, I can't merely change her diet and hope for healthier ones. What I have hatching now, is all I've got!

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry about losing most of your flock to predators. I have become aware of so many foot and leg problems lately that I really think most of us should supplement 3 days a week at least. Many poultry vitamins don't contain the trace elements that some brands like Avian Super Pack, and a few others contain. Giving Probios or another source of probiotics in the diet 2-3 days a week will help keep the intestinal health of your flock too.