Help! How Do I Care for a Hurt Chick?

I have a baby chick/chicken 4 weeks old . i live in a urban area surrounded by woods in north Miami and two chicken families came from no where.. anyways the one baby chick cannot walk i found it pulling itself across my lawn and a fox killed its sister the other nite who had same problem
i m currently doing the rubber band tied to two legs with band aids on her feet and its been two days and  it seems hopeless. any suggestions to get this bird walking again/ I cant afford a vet that will charge me prob hundreds of bucks so i don't know what do.. please help!! sandspoint77@gmail.com  thank you  David...

Flowers and or chocolates!



I'm sorry I know this is a sensitive matter but I couldn't resist it.

Sometimes putting it down is better than the agony of a slow death. It gives me no joy though.

We have dealt with it with chickens, turkeys, and sheep. We made several visits to the vet with sheep that never came back home to realize every trip was an utter waste that only agonized the sick sheep.

I have a small chick that is about 4 weeks old and it cant walk i tried the rubber band tie to both legs so its feet stop kicking back. I was wondering if you could give me any advice onto getting this chick/chicken to walk again?  On the contrary, if i have to euthanize what is the best method?  Thank you..

@wayne gordon - More info would be *really* helpful.
1. breed -
2. diet -
3. is it part of a group of chicks and how are the others doing?

If you could take a picture or tiny video of it's movement?

Essentially, if you want a healthy bird and a healthy flock for a long time, figuring out what the problem is and how it happened has its place even if the chick can't or shouldn't be saved. I had a meat chick once that had a stroke and could only walk backwards. I didn't have the heart to kill it, so we put it in our "chicken hospital" (a plastic tote) where we were splitting wood and it was so motivated by all the bugs in the area, it made a full recovery! If I had thought it had a virus, I would have culled it immediately rather than risk infecting the rest of the healthy birds. If you believe it has "splayed legs" which is damage to the muscles, I personally have had no success treating that condition. I don't know if other permies have, and if so, what techniques they used, but I'm sure they'll speak up.

I think its splayed legs. there were 4 chicks i don't know the breed thy just showed up at my  house in north miami. This is a suburban area but we have allot of south Americans and Caribbeans down here so god only knows where they came from..
most of the chicks that hatched in either my or neighbors back yard are all running around fine. when they were small they were hopping thru my chain link fence which i thought maybe there legs got caught and sprained while pulling thru. Im not a chicken farmer or anything like that but an animal lover with a big heart.
The chick is eating like a bear. it just cant pull itself upright and walk.. one leg looks real still but can bend and go under body.. Im giving the chick a week to see if there is any improvement i have her in a box and i blended a multi grain bird seed in a blender with water and she seems to like it. it has all the natural seeds like sunflower vegetable grains etc. However being she cant eat on her own and in box i have her in i dont put food and water because she keeps knocking it over and when i go to work i feel bad because i know shes hungry all day. What i do is set up a big bowl and let her sit in front of it for a half hour before i leave and she eats the whole time.. i guess this is better then how she was living before scavenging the block for bugs and etc.  Anyways any suggestions would be helpful.. Im just hoping her leg is not broken and then healed already all screwed up because at this pint i then know its hopeless. i will ook for any bird sanctuary or bird lovers here in south fl to see if anyone can relieve me of this painful burden because i really don't want to kill her...  thank you all for any help or suggestions..

What's on the bottom of the box?  If it's smooth, that's an issue.  They need traction or they can get splayed legs.  I've never had to deal with it, but it seems to be somewhat common.  I agree with Wayne F and Jay; sometimes it's best to put them down.

Backyardchickens.com has a lot of info on, not surprisingly, chickens.  It may be worth taking a gander at it.  

The box has allot of leaves i put in it. i do believe it is splayed legs... If i put down is there a humane way with gas etc or just the old fashioned way. I dnt mind working with him for a few days as i said i have a ruberband brace on his legs and shes getting plenty of box rest..

wayne gordon wrote:I have a baby chick/chicken 4 weeks old . i live in a urban area surrounded by woods in north Miami and two chicken families came from no where.. anyways the one baby chick cannot walk i found it pulling itself across my lawn and a fox killed its sister the other nite who had same problem
i m currently doing the rubber band tied to two legs with band aids on her feet and its been two days and  it seems hopeless. any suggestions to get this bird walking again/ I cant afford a vet that will charge me prob hundreds of bucks so i don't know what do.. please help!! sandspoint77@gmail.com  thank you  David...

Newborn or old chickens with leg problems rarely if ever heal and become well again. It’s also likely they will favour their good leg and over time it will go too.

Over the years we’ve had several chickens either born with leg issues or develop them over time. Typical of most animals, they don’t exhibit pain like humans.

The only exception, in the many chickens we had, was a few weeks old chicken (when they take on that lanky and awkward appearance of not being quite a chick or a chook). It somehow got its leg stuck in something and broke it. We taped a paddle-pop (popsicle/ice pop) stick to it and allowed it to heal for a few weeks. In the meantime the hen just hopped around with the others in the flock thinking it was normal.

We removed the stick and tape and after a few slow days her leg was as powerful as the other, only with a little less freedom of movement. She lived out a normal hen’s existence – laying eggs and causing mischief.

As for euthanasia, you seem to have four options, from hard to easy: put it outside and let nature do the rest, break its neck, gas it, visit a vet and have it put down.

Ok thank you for the important information im with her now shes eating well but not standing kinda hobbling around off balance i do notice a improvement from last last friday.. I will give her a couple of more comfortable days with food water and rest and see if she can regain her step.. I will take all options under serious consideration..  Thank you   Dave...

Hope the chick is doing better, but here's a link you might want to look at if you haven't already. Aside from the the rubber bands you are using, it might be more a vitamin/nutrient deficiency that is keeping the chick ill. I briefly housed chicks (someone "dumped" chicks at the park behind my house shortly after Easter when they got too big to keep, likely were "presents" in a basket) and I got chick starter feed from a local feed store, it was more cornmeal and vitamins, and not a seed-based feed. You might want to ask around here for a better mix to feed a baby chick, I'm not sure they can process a seed-based mix well. Good luck, and I hope you are successful.

Thank you Im happily announcing i released him back to his mother and siblings and he/she is walking again. I blended the seed feed in a blender with water and fed him by hand and crate rested him for three days with rubber band. I didnt want to kill him but when he saw his family again miraculously he became well again and i see him walking around with rest of birds eating bugs and worms etc. I will try and get some feed next week and leave it out for them.. thank you.