strange shapeed leg

[Guest pied 09]

hi. i have a chick in the pan and one of its legs is sticking out to the side and the other is normal tucked away .  is this going to be a problem for the bird and if so how do i make it better.

[harky]

put some straw in the bowl  

[Guest pied 09]

i got my birds together whilst i kit the loft out and a pair that i never had much luck with had eggs and i decieded to let nature run its course.

[Guest pied 09]

there was plenty in the bowl and the parents keep picking it out. i have replaced it today

[kev43]

it,s what we call splayed leg syndrome..caused thru not havin enuf straw or tobacco stalks in the bowl,,we use nest felts now as well as tobbacco stalks,,bird will b no gd hope this helps ;)

[Guest Owen]

You should allow your birds to rest and enjoy a successful moult this time of the year, not have youngsters to take care of. The old birds will not be at their best and will probably do a very poor job of rearing.

To answer your question. The youngster will probably be a weakling. It has a splayed leg caused by either lack of the proper nesting material to suport it while it is very young and or a calcium deficiancy.

I have known of people using an elastic band on the leg to force it back to where it should be. I would get shot of it right now because it will never be any good. In fact, I would call it cruel, to let a bird live with a handicap like that. If it were a wild bird it would not last ten minutes.

[Guest pied 09]

thanks for your help everyone

[TACK3727]

hi. i have a chick in the pan and one of its legs is sticking out to the side and the other is normal tucked away .  is this going to be a problem for the bird and if so how do i make it better.

 

I have also experienced squabs with sprayed legs and it has usually happened when there has only been 1 young reared in the nest, it seems to be that the push out with 1 leg to keep themselves upright because they have no other chick to rest against. You will find that the sprayed leg will not heal itself and will only get worse if left. One method that I have known to work to a certain extent is to careful place the sprayed leg back in the normal position and then secure it via a thick piece of string to the other leg, the length of string needs to be at its longest point no more than the natural position between the 2 legs, aslo were the string is placed around the legs, cushion between the leg and the string with  strong paper to ensure the string does not cut or rub into the squabs leg, also check and loosing the string as required to enable the legs to grow.  

[Guest pied 09]

thanks tack he is the only hatchling in the nest.keep it in mind. seems a shame to nobble him

[Guest IB]

It is 'splay-leg' and is usually caused by a combination of a single reared youngster, inexperienced parents sitting too close over / or on, the youngster, and not enough nesting material so that the youngster has no grip on the floor of the bowl. Get more nesting material in the bowl, and put a dummy egg in the nest with the youngster, leave the egg in until the youngster is around 8/10 days old. The egg will help correct the parents poor sitting technique and give the youngster some support in the nest.

[Guest pied 09]

thanks for all your help