Spraddle Leg in chicks

[rach1900]

I have a couple of chicks (hatched friday/ sat), one of which has gone on to develop spraddle leg/ splay leg. I've hobbled her with a tiny piece of micropore tape - has anyone had any experience of this before? What do you think my chances of her recovery are?
Rach

[Odsox]

Unfortunately I think this is a condition that chicks don't recover from, as far as I know it's a symptom of inbreeding.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

[JulieSherris]

Rach, this can actually be because of the surface they are hatched onto as well.
When mine hatch, I tend to leave them in the incubator for a good 24 hours now - mind you, depending on how the slotted floor is positioned, they sometimes go under the egg floor, so I have a j-cloth on the floor underneath so their legs can't slip on the plastic.

When yours hatch, pop them onto a wood shavings base - and again pop a soft cloth on top that you can wash or dispose of - this helps so that they don't start to eat the shavings (which they will try!) and gives them some surface grip on their feet. Their little feet & leg bones are VERY soft during the first day or two, so any slippy surface could cause a splay.
I've only had one with this problem so far & I pinched the neck - it was the kindest thing to do, as you can't guarantee success with hobbling, unfortunately & a hobbled chick finds it difficult moving around to feed & drink & generally get out of the way.

Good luck though.

[rach1900]

Not wanting to tempt fate - It seems to have improved with 5 days hobbling...

I was all for giving it a flick on the head, but as they're technically my dad's chicks, he got the final say, and wanted to give it a chance. So we hobbled it with elastoplast, it managed to get about ok, still ate and drank, and amazingly survived. When the plaster fell off naturally a week later, its leg is moving fine, and in all the right directions... We shall see...

I'm not sure what the cause was - it was on the grid in the incubator for 24 hours apparently, although I was away when they hatched. Just one of those things I guess.

[red]

afaik, it is curable with a hobble arrangement yes.