Chick leg injury

[Rennifer]

I need some help with this girl here. She's a 4 week old silkie chick now. She had what appeared to be splayed leg at about 10 days old, so I banded her with a straw and rubber band. It seemed to help but while doing that, I noticed that her leg back facing toe wouldn't bend. I just figured she'd broke it somehow but still banded her for splay leg. I left it on for about a week and when I took it off, she walked fine except her toe still won't curl like normal. But over the last week or so, this has happened to her leg. She still gets around fine and is gaining weight about the same as her other brooder friends. My daughter has become severely attached checks on her multiple times a day. She still extends and curls her other toes and whole leg, it's just wonky. I did try to reband her, but then she couldn't walk at all and just flipped around. Is there anything that I can do for it now? Or will she just always be a hobble because I didn't leave her banded? Thank you for any advice!!!

 

[Yardfulla poopers]

Unless I'm crazy, there seems to be an extra toe on that left foot. If she is eating/drinking/thriving at the same rate as the others, I would let it play out and see how she does.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I need some help with this girl here. She's a 4 week old silkie chick now. She had what appeared to be splayed leg at about 10 days old, so I banded her with a straw and rubber band. It seemed to help but while doing that, I noticed that her leg back facing toe wouldn't bend. I just figured she'd broke it somehow but still banded her for splay leg. I left it on for about a week and when I took it off, she walked fine except her toe still won't curl like normal. But over the last week or so, this has happened to her leg. She still gets around fine and is gaining weight about the same as her other brooder friends. My daughter has become severely attached checks on her multiple times a day. She still extends and curls her other toes and whole leg, it's just wonky. I did try to reband her, but then she couldn't walk at all and just flipped around. Is there anything that I can do for it now? Or will she just always be a hobble because I didn't leave her banded? Thank you for any advice!!!

I'm sorry about your chick.

To me it looks like she has a leg bone deformity. Valgus Varus or rotated tibia can be genetic or due to parent stock nutrition among other things.

Unfortunately, there's no way to correct a leg deformity. Splinting, hobbling, etc. will not help and may hurt.

Some chicks learn to adapt and can move around quite well even with this issue, but sometimes they may become too heavy for their good leg to support them and start a slow decline.

There's quite a bit of info out there about leg issue in poultry if you do an onsite search or google for leg bone deformities, valgus varus, rotated tibia, etc.
Here's some info that will get you started:
https://poultrydvm.com/condition/valgus-varus-deformity

 

[Rennifer]

I'm sorry about your chick.

To me it looks like she has a leg bone deformity. Valgus Varus or rotated tibia can be genetic or due to parent stock nutrition among other things.

Unfortunately, there's no way to correct a leg deformity. Splinting, hobbling, etc. will not help and may hurt.

Some chicks learn to adapt and can move around quite well even with this issue, but sometimes they may become too heavy for their good leg to support them and start a slow decline.

There's quite a bit of info out there about leg issue in poultry if you do an onsite search or google for leg bone deformities, valgus varus, rotated tibia, etc.
Here's some info that will get you started:
https://poultrydvm.com/condition/valgus-varus-deformity

She seemed completely normal for the first week+ until she went kind of splayed. When she was banded, she walked fine and everything lined up on her legs. I'll do some research! Thank you for the info!

 

[Rennifer]

Unless I'm crazy, there seems to be an extra toe on that left foot. If she is eating/drinking/thriving at the same rate as the others, I would let it play out and see how she does.

She has 5 toes on each foot since she's a silkie. They're polydactyl. That we can keep her happy and healthy. My poor 8 year old always picks the under dogs to fall in love with

 

[Eggcessive]

There are quite a few pictures and articles to read about leg deformities (varus, valgus, rotated tendon, etc) if you do some Googling. Here is some which has pictures:
https://www.researchgate.net/figure...ith-mild-flexion-of-the-hock-C_fig1_332949715

https://www.researchgate.net/profil...hZCIsInByZXZpb3VzUGFnZSI6InB1YmxpY2F0aW9uIn19

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She seemed completely normal for the first week+ until she went kind of splayed. When she was banded, she walked fine and everything lined up on her legs. I'll do some research! Thank you for the info!

Sometimes the deformities become much more pronounced as they age.