Urgent! One week old chick has developed leg problem.

[Ranchwithaview]

This was our weaker chick. She pushed out of her shell too soon, but she has been doing good, eating, and sticking with the others. She's just been smaller. But today I noticed she has a problem with her legs. One is in front and one in back. Do I treat this like a newborn with splayed legs? She still gets around. Do I need to isolate her?She is so sweet. I hope I can save her. Please help.

 

[Eggcessive]

First, I would offer B complex vitamins 1/4 tablet daily crushed onto some food, or give a poultry vitamin in the water that has riboflavin—note that Poultry NutriDrench does not. Another picture or 2 might help to identify a leg bone deformity or a slipped tendon. Many chicks with leg problems improve after a few days of vitamins. Slipped tendons are rearely treated successfully. Many times the chick stands with one leg out to the side. Leg bone deformities such as varus or valgus deformity or twisted legs are never treated successfully, and may worsen with age. But some chickens do get around well enough to survive. Here are some articles on leg bone deformities:
https://thepoultrysite.com/articles/leg-health-in-large-broilers

https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poul.../noninfectious-skeletal-disorders-in-broilers

https://www.researchgate.net/public..._of_the_Intertarsal_Joint_in_Broiler_Chickens

 

[Eggcessive]

Here is some reading about slipped tendons, which appears to be the problem in the chick below:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/peachick-with-slipped-tendon.1092979/

https://www.chickenheavenonearth.com/slipped-tendon-in-baby-chicks-leg-what-you-can-do-to-help-chicken-heaven-on-earth.html

 

[Ranchwithaview]

Thank you. We bought a liquid vitamin b complex and added it to the water. @Eggcessive When I look at her leg following the second link. I don't feel a tendon slipped, but her problem fits the description. Would it be on the lower portion of her leg?

 

[Ranchwithaview]

 

[Eggcessive]

Slipped tendons are usually located in the hock joint or ankle joint between the tibia and metatarsus. I have never treated one before, but if you can get the tendon in place, it can be splinted with vet wrap strips. If the leg is far apart from the other leg, they can be placed a little closer together with vet wrap as well. Here is a video, and you can also look up some articles:
https://sites.google.com/a/larsencreek.com/chicken-orthopedics/

 

[Ranchwithaview]

@Eggcessive Thank you. I don't think my stress level can get any higher trying to help this chick.

 

[Eggcessive]

The peachick thread back in post 3 might be of help, but many of these leg problems are hard to diagnose exactly until the chicks grow larger. I have not ever had a chick with leg problems, but many people try to fix them, and end up putting the chicks down. If they can hobble around on their own well enough to get food and water, they sometimes survive with a disability. The thread below tells about cleopatra, a chick that was thought to have slipped tendon, but to me seems more likely to be a varus deformity:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ster-egger-who-walks-like-an-egyptian.881786/

 

[Ranchwithaview]

The peachick thread back in post 3 might be of help, but many of these leg problems are hard to diagnose exactly until the chicks grow larger. I have not ever had a chick with leg problems, but many people try to fix them, and end up putting the chicks down. If they can hobble around on their own well enough to get food and water, they sometimes survive with a disability. The thread below tells about cleopatra, a chick that was thought to have slipped tendon, but to me seems more likely to be a varus deformity:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ster-egger-who-walks-like-an-egyptian.881786/

That gives me hope. I have her separated with just one other chick, though no-one picks on her. She still is getting food and water.