Weak chick with Splayed Leg - Assisted Hatching

[CaramelKittey]

Hi all! 7/12 eggs in our incubator hatched by themselves. We opened the other 5 on the evening of Day 22, since they had not pipped. 4 were dead unfortunately, but one little chick was still peeping! My Mother carefully peeled the shell and membrane away. (She’s done this many times before, and never lost one!) The chick seems to be fighting, but hasn’t opened it’s eyes all the way yet (only opened them 1/3 of the way) and seems a little weak. It hasn’t stood yet, but it’s trying very hard to stand! It’s in the incubator right now. Should we give electrolytes? How much?
Thanks in advance!

 

[CaramelKittey]

It seems like this chick has a splayed leg. Anything I can do to help it?

 

[CaramelKittey]

We put this on his leg. Hopefully it’ll help.

 

[MGG]

It seems like this chick has a splayed leg. Anything I can do to help it?
View attachment 2346244View attachment 2346245

Sorry no one has helped yet! Do you have any molasses? I like giving a little bit of molasses to weak assisted chicks. Just put a drop on your finger and put it on the side of the baby's bill. Don't get it in the nostrils though. It's cute. Don't do anything about the legs yet, usually late hatchers/assists have messed up toes and legs for the first couple days. They almost always fix themselves. How is she now?

 

[MGG]

View attachment 2346560
We put this on his leg. Hopefully it’ll help.

Posted at the same time, lol.
I would take it off. Bracing weak chicks almost always does more harm than good. All of the assists I ever taped the toes on always die. It seems to just depress them, and even though they look like they're getting better they just give up. The legs should go back to normal on their own. And if they don't you can try to brace on day 2. But don't try before then. Give her a chance to fix them on her own.

 

[CaramelKittey]

Posted at the same time, lol.
I would take it off. Bracing weak chicks almost always does more harm than good. All of the assists I ever taped the toes on always die. It seems to just depress them, and even though they look like they're getting better they just give up. The legs should go back to normal on their own. And if they don't you can try to brace on day 2. But don't try before then. Give her a chance to fix them on her own.

Thank you! We put the brace on her when she was a little less than 24 hours old, so we will take it off. She seems to be a little better.

 

[MGG]

Thank you! We put the brace on her when she was a little less than 24 hours old, so we will take it off. She seems to be a little better.

Ok. She should be fine. Just give her a chance to figure out walking on her own first. If in 2 days she still isn't walking well, then you could brace her if it's really bad. But I think she'll be fine. What are you using for bedding?

 

[CaramelKittey]

The brace we used didn't have tape on it. It's just a small hair tie with a cut straw in between.
For bedding, she is currently still in the incubator on a paper towel. She has food and water available.

 

[CaramelKittey]

Just wanted to update that we left the brace on for 24 hours-ish then took it off. The little chick seems to be doing great now!