Aussie Finch Forum

I know this is the finch forum but I was wondering if anyknows about budgie deformaties . One of my budgies chicks has legs that seem to stick staight out sideways from its body and it hasnt come out of the nesting box like the others Im guessing it cant get out and cant walk properly but is is surviving Is this a genetic deformaty and can they keep surviving like that Its got all its feathers and looks about ready to leave the nesting box

I'm sure someone will answer shortly...My father used to breed budgies and Canaries when he got a (spraddle leg? bird) it was euthanised...

I have had a bird with splayed legs turn up and just like yours it could not leave the nestbox.

I took it to the vet and they told me nothing could be done for its legs. For a few days I put seed on the nestbox floor to make sure it could crack seed then I removed it from the nestbox and kept it in a cage with water and seed available in the floor. It lived for a couple of years with another bird for company.

If you get them early enough you can fix them to some extent with a brace, lots of different reasons it happens, personally I feel a lot of it comes down to calcium deficiency or the nest hollow not being deep enough, I've got a little guy here from last year that I braced but his legs never came perfectly good they are still a bit bent, he lives quite happily as a pet with a few platforms in the cage for him to sleep on, he perches during the day but needs the platforms at night as his balance isn't great.

Agree with Maz- mostly calcium and poor nesting substrate.
Hobbling the legs together will work with younger chicks but if they fledge like this it is usually too late.