The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Buffy the eggs layer on September 17, 2011, 08:13:50 am
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Three out of 5 orpington chicks that I hatched this week had problems.
One was star gazing which I managed to correct after working on it for about 8 hours and 2 have splayed legs which I am physioing as I type. I tried putting a loop of various things round their legs but without success and am now working on them by hand.
I am a sucker for lost causes and hate to think that I have dispatched two otherwise healthy chicks if they could be pulled round but given that they hatched on Thusday perhaps my phiso is too little too late.
Any thoughts
Buffy
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For splayed legs an elastic band with a hollow plastic sleeve over the centre- different sizes depending on the birds i think someone on bay was selling them a while back but diy do able
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I'm a sucker for lost causes too - and often they are lost, but I do like to try and sometimes it works. :)
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I'm a sucker too but I have had some great success with chickens, geese and a sheep that really we should have lost last winter.
Everything is worth a chance if you have the time to spend on them which as smallholders we have compared to commercial farmers who do cut there losses because of time restraints.
I think it is a very personal choice and does not have a right or wrong answer.
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Hi Buffy,
I read your post about your star gazing chick and think You have done a grand job. I have had 2 or 3 chicks in the past with splayed legs and found putting a medium sized hens ring around both legs instead of around just one as intended has worked each time. The rings are different coloured to identify different hens and most smallholder stores or hen stores sell them. They flap around abit at first but soon get used to it and within a few days to a week all has been fine. A friend had a chick born recently with very badly splayed legs and I didnt get to hear about it for about 10 days to a fortnight, I put a ring round its legs and said we have got nothing to loose by trying. I was worried it may be to late but she left it on 10 days and it is now running around and you would never know it had had problems. Good luck, hope you rear them.... Anne
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I had a stargazing chick hatch this week and apart from putting it onto its feet everytime I passed I did nothing else and it has recovered, I have had some with splayed legs too in the past and have found that they usually correct themselves if I keep them on a rubber mat for a while.
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2 have splayed legs which I am physioing as I type.
Wow, talk about multi-tasking! :D
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Its worth trying, however I personally wouldnt breed from them when they are older; might have a gentic factor. Quite late for chick hatching could be a reason for so many with problems
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I recently hatched out three turkey chicks with splayed legs - presumably a genetic defect. I helped/coaxed them for about three days then just knew that I had to dispatch them because they could not feed for themselves. I favor dispatch and trying to eliminate the defect from my stock but then I have become quite a hard and pragmatic old girl and getting more wrinkly every day. Nurturing the lost causes is very time consuming and although it can be rewarding I have often ended up out of pocket with a deadun anyway.
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we not had problems off this nature but off eggs in incubater not going full term and it says in abook we have that this and all your problems (star gazing , sprayed legs ) etc can be coursed through late (time of year) hatching so next year i will only be hatching up to the end of july :) :chook:
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Vitamin D deficiency caused through hens being kept indoors can cause splayed legs, stargazing, soft shelled eggs and various other problems. If the eggs were bought in you dont know what conditions the parents were kept in. Just a thought. :)
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Thanks everyone for all your replies.
the hens that laid them are free range but I'm not sure how well fed they were so nutrition could be the problem. Late hatching could also be the case.
Their legs had not splayed as a result of being on a slippy surface so they were born with that weakness. Also one felt as though its joints were out of line and the legs couldnt correct themselves.
In the end we decided to dispatch them as there was no real signs of improvement and I was not confident to breed from them in the future.
Thanks again for all your comments
Buffy