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Week Old Chick, Bad Legs. UPDATE: I think it is working!

Discussion in 'Emergencies / Diseases / Injuries and Cures' started by EquestrianGal, Jul 5, 2011.

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  1. Jul 5, 2011 #1
    EquestrianGal

    EquestrianGal In the Brooder

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    May 9, 2011
    Not quite a week, five days old.

    I have bandaid braces to help her splay legs (couldn't find small enough rubber band unfortunately), little cardboard shoes to help her toes straighten out, and she still doesn't want to stand. She just sits back on her hocks. It seems like she is getting worse rather than better.

    I have her on vitamins now--how long till I should see improvement if that is the problem?

    She is so sweet and has been so determined, but she is just laying around more and more, not trying as much. Makes me sad.

    I have her in a see-through container in the brooder so she can see her brothers and sisters without being run over by them (sometimes I have her in with them if I am going to be nearby to protect her--she snuggles in with them during naptime and they don't intentionally pick on her, she just cant move around so gets plowed over).

    Any advice or encouragement is welcome. I have lost adult chickens before, but never a chick. And I have never had to cull--and I am worried that is what is going to happen.
     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2011

  4. Jul 5, 2011 #2
    Buff Hooligans

    Buff Hooligans Scrambled

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    Quote:This is not good news, I hate to say it, but you might do her a favor by doing the unimaginable (to a chicken newbie, that is, like me).
     
  6. Jul 5, 2011 #3
    Clay Valley Farmer

    Clay Valley Farmer Songster

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    Very often chicks with bad legs don't get better even with the best treatment. Splinting and bracing may give the muscles a chance to strenthen and hold the joints stable, but if the deficiencies in the legs are significant such that the chick can't get moving about in a couple days they are in trouble due to how fast the grow. Also chicks with bad legs seem to have other issues that sometimes don't show up until later.

    If you are not seeing a rapid improvment then likely the best thing is to cull the bird. Sorry. SOme people are happy to have such special needs chickens, hats off to them, but I don't have much taste for a lame chicken that can't run with the others.
     
  8. Jul 5, 2011 #4
    EquestrianGal

    EquestrianGal In the Brooder

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    May 9, 2011
    thank you--that is what I am afraid of. but in a way, I am glad to hear that sometimes treatments just don't work and it isn't that I am just not doing it right (if that makes sense--I really think I am doing the right thing, but I was worried since it just doesn't seem to be helping).
    I do want to give the vitamins a chance, just in case.

    if it is a vitamin deficiency, how long till the vitamins start helping?
     
  10. Jul 5, 2011 #5
    EquestrianGal

    EquestrianGal In the Brooder

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    May 9, 2011
    well, I don't know if it is the vitamins or what, but she is doing better. She is definitely smaller than her siblings, but seems to have gotten back some energy and is actually standing up (still with shoes and brace--but I'll take it!).

    Thank you to all who have helped in this post and various others. This has been my first potential chick loss and your advice and encouragement has helped!
     

  13. Jul 5, 2011 #6
    chickenfinatic14

    chickenfinatic14 In the Brooder

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    Mar 20, 2011
    lincoln
    Legs come first!! Don't worry about curled toes.

    I had a chick who was born with bent toes and all sorts of leg issues and she couldn't stand up. She was just rolling around and chirping. first when she was just a day old, I took some tape and got her legs together in the right position. She could sort of stand after that. I then taped her toes straight. But that was a mistake. She sloped around and got splay leg. I put her in a "chick chair". Which she was suspended above the ground andher legs hung in the proper position. After few days she came out able to walk normally. I never did get her toes straight but today she is a happy henwith bad toes. It doesn't effect her at all and she is at the top of the order.
    F
     

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