Sounds like the Hokey Pokey right?
Unfortunately, when hatching chicks or even buying chicks, these can be a problem. First and foremost, I believe in nature’s ability to weed out the weak and hence I try and choose to reproduce only those with strong traits. Therefore, chicks that have any of these problems (especially cross beak), will get noted and I will not reproduce. Sometimes, however, it’s not in the breeding, but how they were hatched. The Incubator Massacre is the perfect example of issues that most likely were due to temperature fluctuations in a poor incubating environment.
**When identifying leg issues, be sure to give chicks a good 24 hours after hatching before trying to diagnose. They come out of a shell all wet, soft and crinkled up and it may take a bit for everything to straighten up, dry off and become strong.
Splay Leg or Spraddle Leg
Chicks with splayed legs will look like they are doing the splits. Or if you are me, they will look like they are lunging. My first chick with this issue only had it with one leg. The leg kept sliding out to the side which made it extra difficult for the chick to walk on a flat surface or really any surface. I have had a few with both legs that were splayed and in all cases I used the same treatment. You can do this with a strip of vet wrap, a hair tie, or a Band-Aid. The Band-Aid is the best for a visual example. The width of the white gauze will be the width in between the chicks legs. I cut the Band-Aid in thirds length wise to make a narrow strip and I secure with the sticky edges around each leg. You will want to separate this chick with another chick if possible (I don’t like to leave them alone) in an area with food on the floor and marbles in a water dish. The water dish can be a drowning hazard for a crippled chick and the marbles will prevent that. I like to use the bumpy shelf liner as a flooring to produce extra grip. Ideally if you can get the bandage on the chick within the first 72 hours, you have a good chance of success. Leave on for another 72 hours before you check the progress. I have had it take up to a week. With chicks less than 72 hours old, the Band-Aid in thirds is the perfect size. As they get to be a week or more old, I found that a small soft/thick material hair tie worked best as it was a bit thicker and withstood the strength of the chicks movements. They may fall on their face a few times but will quickly learn how to get around. I have also had them do well and then have it reoccur. I have yet to successfully heal the ‘recurring’ cases as it seems to always become an issue again. Unfortunately euthanizing is sometimes the most humane way of handling it. I do not recommend putting back with the flock until the bird is fully healed. They can get picked on, get stuck, and even get trampled with any kind of injury.
Curled Toes
This can happen independently of leg issues but I have seen it happen in conjunction with them as well. Depending how severe, it can make a chick unable to walk. I made the mistake of thinking a bunch of chicks had curled toes right after hatching, but within 24-48 hours they had all straightened out. The easiest way to attempt to fix this is to take painters tape and cut about a two inch piece. Place the foot on the painters tape with the toes in a correct position and spread out enough to provide support. The tip of the longest toe should hit the middle of the tape and then fold the tape back over the top of the foot. Pinch together the sides to secure. To help with mobility, you can make little cut outs around the toes but be careful when cutting! (The chick in the above picture also has curled toes)
I left this on for two days before checking. It corrected within three days on all but one chick.
Cross Beak (Or Scissor Beak)
This one scares me the most. I have never known of a way to correct it and after researching it, if you see it early on, the chances are pretty grim. I had a young chick with a pretty severe cross beak that came on rather sudden and severe. It can happen from damage to the beak or jaw, but it can also simply be a defect. This little guy did not have it when he was born and since I was letting momma raise them, they never were quite close enough to notice. I believe it happened between weeks 3 and 6. We were pretty sad about it and unfortunately had to cull this one as I wasn’t about to watch him starve and deteriorate/suffer.
Slipped Tendon
My worst case chick had splay leg, a slipped tendon and curled toes. It was horribly sad but I was able to correct the curled toes and most of the splay leg. However, the slipped tendon was the biggest detriment. I have read that you can sometimes correct this if it will stay in place, but I did not have any success. When I first couldn’t correct the splay leg I noticed something different with one of the legs and how the chick was standing on it. It led me to further research and I thought it possibly could be a slipped tendon. I ran my index finger and thumb along the sides of the chick’s hock (elbow) and noticed the leg with issues was more swollen in the hock joint. It was not very noticeable but confirmable with feel and sight. When I pinched this area a little firmer and ran my fingers along the sides of this joint with some pressure, I was able to actually feel where the tendon was slipped to the side and with a pulling but gentle motion I could actually feel myself slip it back into place. Remember, on a tiny bird, you don’t need force. The curious part was not how to move it, but how to make it stay. In this case, with each time I moved it, it slipped right back out of place. I have heard of some people using splints and tape, but on a tiny Silkie chick, I just couldn’t see it happening and with his other issues we decided it was best to euthanize. It was a great learning experience as I had a good leg and bad leg to compare to on the same chick, but still heart wrenching in the end.