# how to tell if chick has splayed legs?



## sheepishsheep (Aug 14, 2011)

Charlie and Lana are currently raising their first clutch of 3 chicks. The first two chicks are now 13 days old and the third chick is 10 days old. The older two seem to get all the food (the parents feed them), while the last chick often goes hungry, so I've started handfeeding the third chick 3 times a day. Developmentally, it seems to be at the same stage that its siblings were at 3 days ago (its eyes just started opening), but it is much smaller than they were 3 days ago.

Just today, I noticed what *may* be splayed legs on the smallest chick. I've attached a few pictures and would appreciate your opinions. Does it look like splayed legs to you? He has trouble walking, but I'm not sure if that's because he's so weak from not having eaten enough for the past week. In case he does have splayed legs, how should I proceed? I read a previous post that suggested putting a sponge between the chick's legs and putting it in a small plastic cup. Would I be able to put the chick in the nest box with its parents (in the cup) if I use this technique? I'm not using a brooder and would like to keep the parents with the chick.

Thank you!


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## birdyforyou2010 (Aug 25, 2011)

I really don't see any thing that looks like splayed leg, just normal young chick awkwardness...but I could be wrong...


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

I don't see anything wrong either


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## sheepishsheep (Aug 14, 2011)

Okay, thank you lperry and birdyforyou! This is my first time breeding so I wasn't too sure of what normal looks like.


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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

Splayed legs is where one or both legs stick straight out. 
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi


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