Spraddle leg, prolapses, and broodiness - Oh my!

Getting the red on

Except when getting the white, gray & brown on

Quick Chick Update:  The Red Ranger chicks are growing fast!  They hit the four week old mark on Wednesday and are gaining, on average, 5 oz per week in weight.  We're trying to take weights of 5 chicks every weekend to get an idea of how they're doing.  I'm planning on posting weight averages and fed usage after we get done with this batch. 

As you can see by these pictures, they're really starting to get their feather on - though some are definitely looking less red than others.  They've been a lively and healthy bunch.  Out of the 67 shipped to us, we've only lost 3; one during shipping and two to what I'm calling failure to thrive. 

Shadow enjoying some scratching time

So even though this group of chicks has been healthy overall, we've had to deal with a few chicken related health issues over the past few months, mostly with our hens.  Currently, two of our girls have gone broody which has frankly been a pain in the butt.  We were not quick to catch the signs when Shadow, our young Cuckoo Maran, starting sitting the nest which we have since learned helps tremendously in breaking a broody hen.  A few days after, Julie, a Buff Orpington, also caught the nesting bug and joined Shadow for the long sit.  As we've since learned, broodiness can be "catching," and some hens are more prone to it over their lifetimes.  We did some web research and talked to chicken-keeping friends about what to do.  Probably the best information we found was combing the message boards at Backyard Chickens and then reading this stellar article from the Chicken Chick.  If your broody hens are not sitting fertilized eggs and your goal is not to have them raise chicks, then it really is best to break a broody cycle as soon as you can.  I think we just about have convinced Julie to be done with her broody moody, but Shadow darling is still having none of it and is determined to keep to the nest.  We separated her from the flock for a couple of days and are not closing the hen house up after the other girls have finished their daily laying.

Another issue we've dealt with recently that was seriously NOT fun was a prolapsed oviduct in our other Cuckoo Maran, Blackie.  After some research on the interwebs we were feeling pretty fatalistic about her chances of survival, let alone, successful recovery, but again the Chicken Chick came to the rescue with a really well done discussion on how to deal with this issue.  It took about a week of constant care and lots of sticking of fingers into poor Blackie's nether regions, but we finally had success, and I'm happy to report there has been no relapse of the prolapse.  Knock on wood, fingers crossed.

Spraddle leg

Finally, in the trifecta of recent chicken issues, one of our Red Ranger chicks arrived with both legs seriously splayed, aka spraddle leg.  Unfortunately, we've not had success in correcting this issue on one of the poor little bugger's legs.  As you can see from the picture, the back legs is sticking out at an odd angle and at this point, I have little hope of being able to fix it.  Here is well-done article from PoultryHelp.com that gives step-by-step instructions on how to (hopefully) correct spraddle leg.

With as rewarding as keeping chickens can be, there are definitely issues with which the chicken hobbyist needs to be aware and ready to address.  Having a well stocked chicken first aid kit (electrolytes, bandaids, Vetericyn VF spray, preparation H or witchhazel, pain-killer free antibiotic ointment or spray, vitamins, tweezers and gloves), a willingness to DYT, and reliable sources of information is a must for those times when your feathery friends need some TLC.