Post by tayh on Feb 7, 2015 1:14:07 GMT -5
Hi,
My Quaker, Forrest, was the first and only baby born to my Nana's pair of Quakers. The previous years they have laid but have had nothing but clear eggs, this year 4 eggs were laid and only one was fertile, my little Forrest.
When my Nana got Forrest out of the nest at about 7-10 days old he had what looked to us like splayed legs, (we have dealt with this many times in chicken breeding) but both legs were effected, one more so than the other. It was definitely the worst case I have seen and the first case Nana has had in her parrots. She couldn't get Forrest to feed and saw no option left but to put him out of his misery...I couldn't bare for her to do it, so I looked online for treatment solutions. I decided to take him myself and treat him for splayed leg.
Upon further inspection I found that his hip was potentially dislocated which I managed to heal with a full leg cast on the little guy. Then it was time to tackle the splayed leg, I used the make up sponge method.
After a couple of weeks I took it off to inspect the progress, he thoroughly hated the sponge, and loved when I took it off. When I inspected him post sponge, it appears that it may not be splayed leg at all, but may be something congenital with a poorly healed break somewhere in there as well. I will explain.
His left leg is the better one, it is straight with no evidence of a break, but he walks on his (I'm going to call it ankle) joint, so not the foot the way they are meant to. Two out of four of his toes have movement but not enough to properly grasp things. I do not know what could possibly cause this, except something congenital.
His right leg is the bad one, this was the one with the hip problem when i first got him, this leg is really bowed when he walks and his foot is turned in so far it is almost backward, once again he walks on his ankle bone not his foot and this foot only has three toes, none of which are capable of gripping. about a third of the way up his leg bone between his ankle and knee is a lump on the bone, which I think could be because of a ill-healed break, although it was not broken when I healed the hip and I haven't noticed the break since...not sure how it became like this, unless it is again congenital.
I don't know what to do about it, he is a happy and very smart little bird, he eats really well and is very talkative but he seems to get frustrated with his legs from time to time, because he is getting old enough (he is now 7-8 weeks old) to climb and explore and they just hinder his movement but he gets by.
I could take him to the vet, but I have a feeling I know what they will say...I just want to know if anyone out there can offer any insight into Forrest's problem and any possible treatment options.
My Quaker, Forrest, was the first and only baby born to my Nana's pair of Quakers. The previous years they have laid but have had nothing but clear eggs, this year 4 eggs were laid and only one was fertile, my little Forrest.
When my Nana got Forrest out of the nest at about 7-10 days old he had what looked to us like splayed legs, (we have dealt with this many times in chicken breeding) but both legs were effected, one more so than the other. It was definitely the worst case I have seen and the first case Nana has had in her parrots. She couldn't get Forrest to feed and saw no option left but to put him out of his misery...I couldn't bare for her to do it, so I looked online for treatment solutions. I decided to take him myself and treat him for splayed leg.
Upon further inspection I found that his hip was potentially dislocated which I managed to heal with a full leg cast on the little guy. Then it was time to tackle the splayed leg, I used the make up sponge method.
After a couple of weeks I took it off to inspect the progress, he thoroughly hated the sponge, and loved when I took it off. When I inspected him post sponge, it appears that it may not be splayed leg at all, but may be something congenital with a poorly healed break somewhere in there as well. I will explain.
His left leg is the better one, it is straight with no evidence of a break, but he walks on his (I'm going to call it ankle) joint, so not the foot the way they are meant to. Two out of four of his toes have movement but not enough to properly grasp things. I do not know what could possibly cause this, except something congenital.
His right leg is the bad one, this was the one with the hip problem when i first got him, this leg is really bowed when he walks and his foot is turned in so far it is almost backward, once again he walks on his ankle bone not his foot and this foot only has three toes, none of which are capable of gripping. about a third of the way up his leg bone between his ankle and knee is a lump on the bone, which I think could be because of a ill-healed break, although it was not broken when I healed the hip and I haven't noticed the break since...not sure how it became like this, unless it is again congenital.
I don't know what to do about it, he is a happy and very smart little bird, he eats really well and is very talkative but he seems to get frustrated with his legs from time to time, because he is getting old enough (he is now 7-8 weeks old) to climb and explore and they just hinder his movement but he gets by.
I could take him to the vet, but I have a feeling I know what they will say...I just want to know if anyone out there can offer any insight into Forrest's problem and any possible treatment options.
