I\'m sorry I didn\'t see your post earlier--perhaps some of my experience might have been of help, but probably not this late.
One of my chicks that hatched around April in an incubator held one leg out like that. It hunkered down & bore its weight on the other leg mostly, and used the \"sideways\" leg for propulsion. I think this condition is called \"spraddled-legged.\"
My observation was that it wasn’t caused by a chick being incapable of correct positioning. The chick’s brain had just gotten incorrect ideas by extended practice with its legs in the wrong position. With my 1st such chick, it was caused by him taking a long time to hatch from the egg. (The membrane got dry & he struggled a number of hours before I decided he\'d built up enough of his system \"working\" to hatch & the best thing was to take the risk of helping him out of his shell.) I wonder if the shape of your chick’s shell put his leg in an unusual position as he practiced pushing and extending it while hatching.
I noticed my chick’s problem right away upon his hatching and started trying \"physical therapy\" to reprogram his brain on how to use his legs.
I rotated his sideways knee and foot with one hand such that the leg was underneath him. With the other hand, I shifted his weight onto the normally sideways leg. He normally liked to hunker down on his normally weight-bearing leg, but not his \"sideways\" leg, so when I\'d hold him like this, his \"weight-bearing\" leg was often up in the air next to his body where it shouldn\'t be. However, his \"sideways\" leg began to get the feel of how to bear weight and point ahead. And when he struggled on his own (or sometimes I\'d jostle him lightly to encourage this), he had to extend his \"weight-bearing\" leg in his efforts (I also pushed down on the top of that foot sometimes to help).
After 2-3 days, as he gained strength and correctness, I started moving him at a walk with his legs held correctly under him.
I did therapy sessions about 4-6 times a day for 5-15 mins. for about 6 days (plus just a few times after that) and he got the idea. I was sooooooooo pleased! Within 2 weeks, you couldn’t tell him from the other chicks.
Unfortunately, I had a 2nd spraddle-legged chick that hatched under a hen that didn’t do so well. I was preoccupied while the hen was sitting the eggs and didn’t get them moved from the slick-floored nest until a day or two after he hatched. He couldn’t get a good grip on the smooth floor, and learned that his only successful mode of transportation was sitting down and putting his leg(s) to the side to kind of squirm around. Someone else moved the chick, hen and other egg for me to a normal area for rearing chicks, and the problem wasn’t really spotted until the chick was about 3 days old.
I tried therapy. It helped some, but the chick’s brain was already pretty strongly programmed. He would rotate his “sideways” hip very severely as he got older. My husband helped me construct a masking tape & paper towel “brace” to hold his legs in close together. However, as he rotated his hips & turned his knees in more, it didn’t help. I put stiff cardboard on the connecting section to hold his knees apart so his hips wouldn’t rotate, but he learned to lean into the brace and rely on it in figuring how to walk.
I tried for a few weeks but the night I found his mother and brother had progressed to perching in the rafters together while he sat on the floor, we had to put him down. It was very sad. I will be very careful about ensuring my chicks have good footing in the future from the get-go.
I’m so sorry for your chick’s problem. It is hard to see something like that in a little guy. I wish you the best and hope your other chick does well.
It is a pleasure to read your messages on the board. They are very caring and uplifting.
Best wishes to you
