What to do with chicken who won't use one leg?

[karmlacres]

I have a chick that was born 5-6 weeks ago. It has had leg issues since birth. I immediately treated it for spraddle leg. If I put the chick in a run to keep it propped up, it got out. Whenever I taped/band-aided its legs together, it promptly pecked through and released its legs. It can stand on one foot. It gets around but in a crippled sort of way with dragging its one leg around. I had been doing some therapy (bending/stretching) the leg until I was laid off from one job where I worked at home and took a job outside of the house - now I just don't seem to have the time to work with the poor bird. Anyways, initially, its toes were very tight. I massaged and exercised its foot and it behaves much like the other one in that it will grab my finger when I push on the bottom of its foot. When I work the whole leg, I often feel/hear a *pop* and the bird seems a little uncomfortable. I'm guessing it hurts a little. I am going to go try to work with it a little bit now and I know it will be hard on the bird because I haven't worked with it in awhile. The "knee" of its leg is a bit worn because it uses it for balance/leverage when it does move around.

Is there a way to splint the birds leg to keep it under it? I've always wondered if it was dislocated. If it is, I'm not sure what to do to get it back in place. I'm afraid the damage is done and there is much more I can do with it. I'd like it to be bigger if I'm going to cull it. Then the added issue (for me) is that I've hatched another 6 chicks. I have them with this injured bird. The new babies immediately took to the injured bird as if it were their mother. The newer babies are 1.5 weeks old now.

I'd like to save the bird because I think its a hen. But if it can't stand/walk properly, I'm afraid it will have issues when integrated into the existing flock.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[ethingtonart]

I kept my rooster, M&M, with the flock despite his slipped tendon and he actually did really well. (We took him to the vet to attempt to have his tendon put back in place, but the vet was unable to fix it) So, he hopped around with the rest of the flock. He was also very affectionate because he knew he could get special treatment from us.
He was at the bottom of the pecking order though, and because of the extra wear and tear on his good leg we had to treat him for bumble foot.