Slipped Tendon/Leg deformity HELP

[Jhura]

Hello,
So I hatched a group of eight eggs from backyard chickens (Marans and RIR). They have Mareks and ALV, a milder virulence, and I was hoping to see if we could gain some immunity in the subsequent generation.

Everyone hatched okay March 11, with the exception of one prolapse, and two with leg deformities. The tendons are slipped, plus hip joint is misaligned with weakness. We saw this as soon as they came out of the egg.

So ended up seeing three veterinarians, and of the two chicks with leg issues, we made the decision to put down the boy because after six weeks of swaddling, chick chairs, carrying around, bandaging/splinting, medications, etc he just couldn’t walk at all.

Now we are left with the girl, who had one bad leg and one that is wobbly. All three vets recommended putting her down too, but she was still getting around and eating/drinking, even though she a third of the size as her other healthy siblings.

So, I’m at a loss. I have scoured this group, and read all the pinned posts on slipped tendons, leg deformities, stories, other websites, etc I was just wondering if anyone has gotten their bird to adulthood with these issues with some kind of ability to get around? Because if not, I guess I have to put her down too. Her mom is a 6 lb RIR, and her dad a 9 lb RIR, so she will definitely need some kind of leg capability even though she’s not growing a lot. I do hand feed her egg yolk and vitamins and grubblies too.

I’m super bummed.

 

[Debbie292d]

Have you tried B-complex? She'd get 1/4 of the human pills per day, or 1/4 dropper of the liquid.

To try put weight on her, this is what we got for a bird we rescued that was skin and bones. I mixed some in her mash I made out of the chick crumbles every day. Amazingly, in a couple of weeks she was thriving and growing and wound up being fine.

That's great all you're doing for her.

 

[Jhura]

We do nutridrench, but I can do Bs. I brought many my hens back from the dead with B Complex lol but this one’s got pretty marketed deformities. I did order a leg splint off of Etsy, just so she can use her bad leg to push off of with her somewhat good leg, but her somewhat good leg is kind of wobbly too, so that’s the trouble we’re having she just goes in circles…

 

[Eggcessive]

The b complex is mostly for riboflavin in chicks. There are all of the b’s including niacin for ducklings. Unfortunately, riboflavin is not in Poultry NutriDrench. It is in Poultry Cell though. Have you ever had any broody hens? Those are the best incubators. I hatched a few birds, and incubator issues are very heartbreaking, so I stopped. Many of my hatchery hens went broody every summer. I let a few hatch chicks, and never saw leg problems, pasty butt, or coccidiosis. With your chicks with leg problems, unless they can manage to get around well enough to get enough food and water, they may need to be cared for for the rest of their lives.