Lillith37
Specially interested in chickens
So this is about the chick my broody hatched (or rather incubated and then didn't hatch). I wrote two other threads here and here.
In short, my broody hen Yinny was sitting on two eggs. One hatched, the other took longer and she left the nest whilst it was externally pipped. I assisted the chick to hatch. Unfortunately its feet and toes were curled in and it was walking on the outside edges of its feet. It was also splaying its legs a little and one leg was getting stuck behind it.
I made little sandals for the chick to correct the feet. Just plastic disks wrapped in vetwrap and then strapped under the feet, around the toes and secured at the ankle. Beautiful Yinny accepted the second chick and because it's really wet outside, I've set them up inside. The chick is already moving better, but it sits down on its hocks. I'm not sure if this is because of the sandal design (there's no back to the sandals, they are just a flat disk) or something else. There is less splaying and the leg does not seem to be getting stuck behind as much.
I have Vitamin B complex and Vitamin E on hand. I'm going to give the chick some via dropper as well as some sugar water. It's interested in food but not quite as quick on the uptake as its sibling. I thought I would cut up some tuna really small and encourage it to eat some for the selenium.
To my questions:
- Does anyone have any good resources/advice on checking for slipped tendon/s and if so, how to correct this?
- How long should the sandals stay on? It will be 24 hours this evening.
- Is there anything else I can do to support the chick to develop properly? I read about someone putting paper towel in a cup and putting the chick in the cup for "exercise sessions" to encourage correct position of the legs.
I'm going to keep them all inside until we have dryer weather and until I'm confident the second chick can keep up.
Thank you so much
In short, my broody hen Yinny was sitting on two eggs. One hatched, the other took longer and she left the nest whilst it was externally pipped. I assisted the chick to hatch. Unfortunately its feet and toes were curled in and it was walking on the outside edges of its feet. It was also splaying its legs a little and one leg was getting stuck behind it.
I made little sandals for the chick to correct the feet. Just plastic disks wrapped in vetwrap and then strapped under the feet, around the toes and secured at the ankle. Beautiful Yinny accepted the second chick and because it's really wet outside, I've set them up inside. The chick is already moving better, but it sits down on its hocks. I'm not sure if this is because of the sandal design (there's no back to the sandals, they are just a flat disk) or something else. There is less splaying and the leg does not seem to be getting stuck behind as much.
I have Vitamin B complex and Vitamin E on hand. I'm going to give the chick some via dropper as well as some sugar water. It's interested in food but not quite as quick on the uptake as its sibling. I thought I would cut up some tuna really small and encourage it to eat some for the selenium.
To my questions:
- Does anyone have any good resources/advice on checking for slipped tendon/s and if so, how to correct this?
- How long should the sandals stay on? It will be 24 hours this evening.
- Is there anything else I can do to support the chick to develop properly? I read about someone putting paper towel in a cup and putting the chick in the cup for "exercise sessions" to encourage correct position of the legs.
I'm going to keep them all inside until we have dryer weather and until I'm confident the second chick can keep up.
Thank you so much
