Splay legs?? please help

[emiliedavis]

Hey all! my classroom hatched some chicks & i have one who flops around to move. I put him in his own box & did some research and looks like splay leg. I put a band around his legs & he looks like he can take maybe a step (still a little floppy). Also looks like he has been rocking / walking on his knees.
Can anyone help?

 

[sylviethecochin]

Welcome to BYC.
Pictures would help. Generally, if it is splay leg, bracing it should help the bones to grow straight, and the chick should be fine within a week.
I recommend this site for all your chicken leg problem needs.

 

[emiliedavis]

i just took this & have a little band around his legs. you can see he is rocked back on his knee

 

[sylviethecochin]

Can you get a picture of the his legs from below, please?

 

[emiliedavis]

i have him banned together right now. they were out to the side a little bit before i did this

 

[casportpony]

Welcome to BYC. Can you extend the leg straight?

 

[emiliedavis]

backwards , downwards? any direction? just wanna know before i do it. i also dont want to hurt it

 

[sylviethecochin]

backwards , downwards? any direction? just wanna know before i do it. i also dont want to hurt it

Downwards, maybe a little forwards. Check for abnormalities in the joints, and range of motion. It might be helpful to have another chick for comparison purposes.

 

[emiliedavis]

i still have the band on but was able to push the toes / legs down a bit. with the bands on he seems to be sitting up (on the knees?) more than what he was and seems to try an walk but doesnt seem strong enough

 

[sylviethecochin]

What I'm trying to do (and what I think @casportpony is trying to do) is see if there's anything wrong with his hips or tendons.
It would be helpful if you make sure that his legs will straighten, and nothing moves behind his hocks when you do it (slipped tendon), and he doesn't seem to be in any pain when you do it.
Please also google "slipped tendon chick" and see if it looks like what you're seeing, because his left hock does look swollen from the picture, but I'm not sure if it's just the picture.