twisted leg

[3littlehens]

I rescued a day old chick from the pet store due to what appeared to be a twisted leg. It is now 10 weeks old and drags the twisted leg. Of course it can't scratch the ground and is VERY thin. It tries to keep up with it's 3 other chick friends and they come running whenever this one peeps in distress. I doubt there is anything that can be done for the leg but I am worried about it getting enough food when foraging all day. I seems to get tired and will lay and rest often.All the others are in good weight. The diet consists of start and grow, scratch, and dinner consists of fresh kale, lots of garden veggies (ground up in a food processor) occassional hard boiled eggs etc. So they have a good variety to choose from.

 

[Judy]

If it were mine, I believe I would separate it for a short period in the morning and evening, and offer a small meal of hard boiled egg or egg yolk, a bit of live culture plain yogurt, and maybe a bit of chick feed. Might add just a bit of applesauce (one jar of the baby food kind will last a while.) A bit of cooked oatmeal would also be good, or even a tsp of the hamburger or similar protein you are having that night. One way or another, it sounds like it needs a regular nutritional boost. Do they have chick feed available all day? Your supper would be lots of fun for them but is not necessarily a balanced diet; it is fine as a treat but they do need the balanced diet.