What exactly causes spraddle leg?

[miss_thenorth]

I know I've read lotsa things, but even as I take the chicks out of the incubator and into the brooder, they are already spraddled. So, does it have anything to do with incubating --perhaps temperature or humidity.
I have been hatching coturnix, and this batch has alot of spraddle legs compared to my other hatches. They are all hatched, treated, started, brooded the same. the only thing that might be different about this hatch is the humidity.

Anyone else out there with any other theories?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

I believe I've read temp or humidity causing problems, but don;t recall which. I've also noticed that a number of chicks that spraddle seem to be built differently--the hips are much farther to the side than on chicks that do not seem to have the problem.

 

[amarook]

I had a chick go spraddle on me when it was 2 weeks old.
Up until that time it was just like the rest of it's siblings. I taped her legs for a few weeks, and she's fine now. She was smaller than everyone for quite a while. But caught up now.

I was wondering myself what would cause a 2 week old chick to go spraddle all of a sudden.

 

[ArizonaNessa]

Brooding them on cardboard or newspaper or any other surface that might become slick after poop has been applied can cause them to have similar leg issues as well.

 

[amarook]

I had mine on shavings.

 

[ArizonaNessa]

Quote:
Oh no please don't think my comment was aimed toward you. There are other factors that can cause it to happen as well. I was just mentioning something different that could cause it.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Well, I am just curious, as I can't possible tape a quails legs up, and tried with a chicken chicks legs, but it ended up dying anyways. Like I said--they went into the brooder that way. If we can all figure out what causes it, and take precautionary measures, we might be better off. did the paper cause it, or were they somehow predisposed to becoming spraddle anyways. etc etc. I think they were already predisposed to becoming spraddle, and I want to figure out how to prevent it.