What’s wrong with my chicks leg?

[yeahd00d]

hatched a chick yesterday and her leg is straight out to the side. How can I help correct this? If I bend her leg underneath her she will keep it that way, but once I put her down it’s back out to the side. Help!!

 

[Hazelbunny]

It looks like your chick has splayed legs! Chicks get splayed legs from slippery flooring or are some born with it. I think you can fix it with a rubber band but I'm not sure, do some looking around to find out how you can help her.

 

[yeahd00d]

It looks like your chick has splayed legs! Chicks get splayed legs from slippery flooring or are some born with it. I think you can fix it with a rubber band but I'm not sure, do some looking around to find out how you can help her.

Okay I looked it up. I had some vetwrap so I’m trying that for a brace! Thanks for the help!!

 

[sylviethecochin]

I think your most likely problem is either slipped tendon or splayed leg. The good news is that young chicks heal very well. The bad news is that sometimes they drown in the water dish while motility challenged, so keep an eye out for that.

Check the back of the knee and make sure it matches the other knee. If it doesn't, straighten the leg and see if you can get the tendon back in place. Then brace it for a bit to make sure it heals well. (see site linked at bottom of page)

The other (more common) option is splayed leg (often but not always caused by slippery flooring). Put him on better flooring ASAP if that's the case, and see about using a brace:

You can make one using an elastic hair tie and a piece of drinking straw. I used soft yarn and the straw and found that that worked better for me. Some people use band-aids.

Try supplementing feed with poultry vitamins (especially B of any sort) for a few days: it can only help.

And check out this site. It's great, and I'm trying to scatter as many links to it around BYC as I can.

 

[AmazingRachel]

Splayed leg. You can try the rubber band technique but it doesn't always work. I suggest using pine shavings instead of wee-wee pads for bedding in order to prevent any other occurrences.

 

[yeahd00d]

Thank you everyone!!! I put a splint on it and she already is starting to stand

Hoping she will get better in a few days!