Whats wrong with my chick???

[20123001]

i hatched a little Americana chick last week. it got halfway out and then the membrane got stuck so i had to help him the rest of the way out. The next few days he was ok but then when he was three days old he develpoed spraddled leg on his left side. i looked up how to fix that and i bandaded his legs together. so know he is only keeping his head turned that way! What should i do?

 

[Pele]

It doesn't sound like anything is inherantly wrong with the chick. Spraddle is environmental, and caused by the ground being too slick for the chicks to stand upright. You're doing the right thing with the band-aid, but you also need to provide non-slick ground like a towel, or a nice thick bed of shavings (non cedar).

Fortunately Spraddle isn't lethal if you fix it right away like you are. Good luck!

 

[sweeterdeeter42]

The same thing happens the first time we ever hatched our own chicks. We put commercial grade carpet in the bottom of the box to help him get traction for a little while.