CoopTherapy
In the Brooder
Okay, so I'm new to the site, I'll do the introduction thing once I'm done with this post(Also tried posting yesterday, but I couldn't for some odd reason, or it just isn't showing up on my phone).
I have a chick with splayed legs and fused knee joints that I have been caring for since it was a day old, it was hatched on Saturday, I've taken to calling it Lil'Bit.
I found the post on Craigslist about Lil'Bit, this was her first hatching and had no idea what could have been wrong with the chick. Her and her husband work all day and they don't have any older children, so she asked someone to try and save the baby, or to cull in the very least. So, I called her and told her how she could care for it and tend to the legs, she ended up bringing it to me.
Which is where all of my problems with this biddie started. I was able to get Lil'Bit to drink the second day it was here, but it continued to refused to eat while I was holding it up until last night, so I had to start force feeding it ground up feed mixed with water and electrolytes through a syringe. It has an appetite, it just takes a little too long to feed it and it gets a little too cold in my hand, I've had to switch from feeding it every hour to every thirty or so minutes.
I've been trying everything I can think of to help with the splayed legs, but Lil'Bit is just too small for anything to actually work.
I've slipped a straw over a hair tie and then over the legs above the knee joints, but Lil'Bit is too small; I've loosely banded the knee joints together, in fear I was going to put it too tight, which doesn't seem to be working either.
Which brings me here.
I was wondering if there was a way I could get Lil'Bit to eat while I'm holding it and if there are any other tricks to fixing, or helping, splayed legs?
Please, any advice is welcome and very much appreciated.
*Culling is a last resort, I've never seen a chick so full of... ahem.. vinegar and fight before, all of the other chicks I've tried saving just gave up.
I have a chick with splayed legs and fused knee joints that I have been caring for since it was a day old, it was hatched on Saturday, I've taken to calling it Lil'Bit.
I found the post on Craigslist about Lil'Bit, this was her first hatching and had no idea what could have been wrong with the chick. Her and her husband work all day and they don't have any older children, so she asked someone to try and save the baby, or to cull in the very least. So, I called her and told her how she could care for it and tend to the legs, she ended up bringing it to me.
Which is where all of my problems with this biddie started. I was able to get Lil'Bit to drink the second day it was here, but it continued to refused to eat while I was holding it up until last night, so I had to start force feeding it ground up feed mixed with water and electrolytes through a syringe. It has an appetite, it just takes a little too long to feed it and it gets a little too cold in my hand, I've had to switch from feeding it every hour to every thirty or so minutes.
I've been trying everything I can think of to help with the splayed legs, but Lil'Bit is just too small for anything to actually work.
I've slipped a straw over a hair tie and then over the legs above the knee joints, but Lil'Bit is too small; I've loosely banded the knee joints together, in fear I was going to put it too tight, which doesn't seem to be working either.
Which brings me here.
I was wondering if there was a way I could get Lil'Bit to eat while I'm holding it and if there are any other tricks to fixing, or helping, splayed legs?
Please, any advice is welcome and very much appreciated.
*Culling is a last resort, I've never seen a chick so full of... ahem.. vinegar and fight before, all of the other chicks I've tried saving just gave up.
