Young chick with foot deformity, help- Do I Cull??

[cluckcluck42]

I recently had a hatch that didnt turn out well. My incubator went down to 80 degrees for awhile (no idea how long it was that low for) and only had 4 chicks hatch. Two chicks came out great, and two chicks still were not out after nearly two days. I finally helped them both out. Both have messed up feet now, I assume from being in the egg for too long.

One has a deformed foot and the other is okay. Originally they were both deformed but I 'physio therapied' him and the one foot got better. Here is his picture, no idea why the cam was so blurry. He moves around okay but as you can see its pretty bad.

The other chick has the same thing on both his feet. He currently has a splint type thing on his two feet, will see if that helps. Doing this to the other chick did not help.

What can I do? Should I cull? Can they live full lives with deformed feet? I put the healthy black chick (maran cross) with the broody hens. They wouldnt accept the Welsummer cross chick because its a different colour then their babies?! ALl their babies are black. Is that possible? The Welsummer chick they ignored but the black maran chick they started taking care of right away. Weird huh?

Anyways I want to put all the chicks in with the moms eventually, will they be okay out with the moms? What more can I do for these guys?

ETA pic

 

[boogiedog]

I'd wait and see. If they can get around, eat and drink, it is entirely possible that they will either compensate for the deformity, or possibly, it may correct itself somewhat. I had a peep with a bad leg - couldn't use it at all. I had to hand feed her. Two weeks later she is up and walking fine. I suspect she may have some wonky toes for life, but she is doing great. Good luck!

 

[MysticScorpio82]

I think it will be ok, many chickens survive with deformities of some kind. However if you want to try to correct the deformed foot, you need some card board and band-aids.

Cut the card board out so it lays against the feet on bottom and looks kinda like a ducks webbed foot. Use the band-aid to tape the foot down and around. Leave this "splint" on for about a week or two (fixing it as need be) and it SHOULD help the deformity. Whether it will correct it completely, or just make it not as bad; you won't know until you try.

 

[cluckcluck42]

Thanks for your replies.

The chick pictured above is doing good. He eats and walks just fine, we have splinted up his foot and he is getting around okay.

The other chick is doing very bad. We tried to splint him up too, did not work. Made him much worse and unable to get around. He chirps very loudly constantly. Never heard such a noisy chick so I know he must be in pain. Tonight my boyfriend is going to do the deed.

 

[organicfoltzfamilyfarm]

I had a few chicks hatch like that before. Use a chick shoe. Those things work great! Chicks heal so fast that you'll only need to leave it on for 2 days if really severe longer because you have to keep adjusting it.

This is a really good website on the different options you have to fix yer lil ones.

http://sites.google.com/a/larsencreek.com/chicken-orthopedics/leg-braces

 

[cluckcluck42]

Thanks for that link, I was so shocked when I saw the chick chair! WHat an idea.

So, the one with two crippled feet died in the night. The other one is doing much better, we have a chick boot on him. He is still smaller then the other chicks.

I am glad that the bad one died on its own. I was pretty upset to think of culling it, looks like he was just not going to make it. I asked myself if I should have just left them to die in the egg, and I still do not regret taking them out. Even if just one out of four has a chance to live a normal life, i have to take that chance.