Leg problems

[Linda]

I have a 55 day old fledgling that I have had to hand rear. He has one leg that sticks out to the side. Have been to vet. He made hobbles but said they may not work because of his age. We’ve tried tape but they are too sticky any ideas of what I can use

[BrettB]

Difficult to answer with out seeing the problem
It depends on which joint is affected, whether it is paralysed or dislocated, passive range of movement, etc.
If the limb can be placed under the bird, in the position it would be in if the bird was crouching down on a perch, and then taped in this position.
There is some hope that over time it will stay in that position and be less of an incumbrance.

Brett

[gomer]

Congratulations on hand raising a finch for a start certainly a challenge itself.I hand raised a bird with a slight splayed leg. It was alot younger and i had it in a confined area. I Tried hobbles and took them straight of. Looked at tape also. I decided to put medium on the floor to grip Being swamp grass. This stopped the birds leg from sliding outwards. Over time the leg got strength and straight. It maybe a total different situation then yours. As mine was younger and the splay could have been coming from a different area.With my young bird with the hobble on it was dragging both legs behind itself ,that is the only reason i did not use either of these.

[Rod_L]

make sure it's not suffering from vitamin D deficiency because that can cause legs to go funny.

[finchbreeder]

Hobbles made of wool are quite often effective. But as others have said the younger these are applied the better the chance of success. For the very simple reason that the bones are not yet set, but still soft and flexible when very young. The advantage of these is they can be applied with just a tiny bit of pull, and replaced with slightly more pull towards the natural position at weekly intervals. Good luck.
LML

[Farlie]

I have a budgie that was sat on in the nest by his siblings and he came out of the box with a dislocated leg. I spoke with the vet and was told that there's not much that can be done. She said if he eats drinks flys and looks happy leave him be. Three years on he is going strong. We named him 'Moe with the gimpy leg'

[CathyCraftz]

Hi sorry for the late reply, had posting problems which I made a separate post of.
Hand raising a bird is always hard work, but when it comes to a finch it is harder because it is smaller than your average bird, so you have to handle them very carefully. One wrong move and you might have killed your baby. So let me just say congrats for getting this far!
Did you tuck the baby's legs in after you feed it? I read from a website that the baby's legs have to be under their body or they will develop splayed legs as they grow up. You might want to bring the baby to a vet to see if they can do anything about it. Like Rod_L said, make sure that the fledgling has plenty of vitamins supplied to it. What species of finch is the fledgling? I suppose by that age the baby have been weaned so he can eat seed now, so it is easier to supply him with foods rich in vitamins such as cuttlebone. If he can't peck bits off, scrape some off for him. If he refuses to eat it, bring in a 'teacher bird' that can teach him that cuttlebone is yummy. Spinach is also a good option, but too much spinach can drain vitamins from his body, so give him more cuttlebone than spinach.
Last of all, are you sure that it is not a gene problem? Even if the parents don't have splayed legs, they still might carry the genes that enables their offspring to have splayed legs. Have the parents produced before? If he just generally looks comfortable, leave him be. You might have to make some adjustments to the cage so he can get around easily.
Good luck.

[CathyCraftz]

Just a thought, your local pet store might sell some Vitamin D supplements for finches that can be put into their water. If you opt for that, make sure you know the dosage and don't give the fledgling too much. Remember, too much of a good thing is bad! Also, only buy supplements that says specifically for finches.

[Craig52]

Cathy the bird has splayed leg/legs due to the way it was sat on in the nest. In finches this cannot be fixed by splint or medication after it has happened. It will be like it for the rest of its life so there is two things that can be done, let it live its life like that but it's a bit cruel or cull it and move on. Craig

[CathyCraftz]

Well if I was the owner I would let it live like that as it would have adjusted to its disability.