My favorite pet ever, Sydney, started out with splay legs, the worst I've ever seen. I obtained her at 3 days old, and she had been down since she hatched. The most important things in treating this problem are keeping the legs hobbled in a normal position, provide a surface with good traction, and keep the baby upright. Plus all the basics to keeping a baby alive -- heat, food, and water. After I put Sydney's hobbles on I put her down. She didn't have the physical strength to stand, so she toppled over immediately. I got a tall cereal bowl and rolled up a tiny T-shirt into the shape of a doughnut. I put some shavings in the bottom of the bowl, then put the T-shirt doughnut on top of that, then put her in the hole of the doughnut. The top of the doughnut was at the height of her back, so she couldn't jump out. The hole was small enough that she couldn't tip over. She was syringe fed and watered until she was willing to eat on her own. This setup allowed her to build up her leg strength and it also kept her from injuring herself. It took about 2 days before she was able to stand outside the bowl, and 3 days before she was able to walk without falling over. Then suddenly she grew out of her hobbles. I was going to change them, but as soon as I took them off and set her down for a second she started running around pretty well. Instead of re-hobbling her, I just put her in a small area to prevent her from overexercising too soon. Within the week she seem 100% normal, and had no orthopedic problems until she was 6 years old, when she became arthritic from extreme old age. Pretty good for a bird who's life expectancy is less than 18 months. Sydney was a broiler chicken, and lived for 6.5 years as a free-range, treasured pet.
