My recent hatch of chicks have put me through the wringer. Last night when I checked on them before going to bed I found them standing in water! They had somehow managed to flip the paper towel up from the corner and into the waterer. All of the water wicked out of the waterer and into the bottom of the foam incubator they were using as a temporary brooder. They were soaking wet and in over their feet in water. I got them out and into the big incubator to dry off. I dumped the water, dreid the foam incubator added fresh paper towels and put them back in for the night. They all seemed fine this morning but this afternoon I found one of them with a little rasping breathing. Â Hopefully they will be fine.
In addition to the soaking they had I noticed two of them had leg problems. This chick has a foot that is turned under and the leg splays out to the side.
The second chick has both feet turned under.
As I always do, I fashioned little booties and hobbles for them both. The booties help to reposition the foot and the hobbles prevent the legs from splaying out to the side. Most of the time this treatment is successful. I will have to keep a very close eye on them because they can get flipped over on their backs, unable to right themselves.
Here is a little video of my orthopedically challenged chicks. I’ll post updates as we go along.
Wednesday, April 10th:
The chicks legs are better today. I took the booties off both of them. The lighter colored chicks’ foot, which was completely turned under yesterday, is fine today. He still has a tendency to splay so I kept the hobble on him. The darker chick has no splay today but by the end of the day his foot began to turn a bit. I will put a booty back on him tonight. I am still thinking they will both be fine. Here is a little video from today.
Mary says
Thanks Kathy. The little white chick is the one I am most worried about. Check back for updates and thanks fro visiting and commenting. It gets lonely in here. 🙂
Kathy says
Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp…..
I bet the boots will work! I can hardly wait to see the end results of your project!