Expert: Chrys Meatyard - 10/27/2007

Question
My two parakeets recently laid eggs, which have hatched by now and the babies are almost 1 month old. We noticed at about 2 weeks old that one of the parakeets has a problem with its legs. They are sticking straight out and it seems unable to bend them. It stays lying down on its stomach and cant really move around..is there anything that we can do for it? do you know what might have caused this problem? the rest of the birds (and the clutch before) were perfectly normal. There is stuff at the bottom of the nesting box so they dont slide around and that keeps them warm, so im not sure what might have caused this problem. Thanks for the help,
Kelly


Answer
Hi, Kelly,

This baby is splay legged (has splay leg).  You can find lots of pictures on the internet by doing a Google search using the search string "splay lay."  Pictures will give you suggestions for how you can try to correct this problem.  I have information on my website also:  www.angelfire.com/falcon/birdinfo/index.html.  It is caused by the bird not having enough traction under it's feet as they are developing.  In other words, the surface the baby was kept on was too slick and its legs couldn't stay straight.  This happens sometimes, too, when there is only 1 baby is a nest.  The parent sits on them and they don't have a sibling to push against.  Material such as pine shavings doesn't help...it's slick.  I use Rubbermaid drawer liners under babies who aren't in a nesting box.  With 3 babies in the nest, I'm surprised this happened, but it does occasionally.

With this baby being 1 month old, I doubt hobbling will be successful.  In order to correct splay leg, hobbling needs to occur before a baby is about 2 weeks old.  It sometimes works at 3 weeks, but usually not over 3 weeks of age.  Once bone starting developing, hobbling won't work.  You can contact a certified avian vet to see if there are other options.

Chrys