splayed legs

AFTER CARE THIS IS THE SAME BIRD

This baby was severely leg splayed and now you wouldn't know anything was ever wrong with it

It best to catch this problem before the 3 week old stage but give it a try. I use a piece of flat makeup sponge ( rectangular in shape across the width ) ....cut two tiny holes or slits in it between half an inch apart or three quarters of an inch apart. Next is the difficult bit....you need two people. One to hold the budgie baby offering its legs and feet to go through the hole and one to make sure its feet and toes go through safely. A handy tip for putting the legs through is to cut a section of plastic drinking straw and slit it up the length. Wrap that around the budgies leg and push it through the holes...once through slip the plastic straw off the leg. Once you have both feet through the holes, push the section of sponge up past its "knees-ies" to the top section of leg. If too much excess sponge sticks out trim some back. I have used this method successfully already and a severely splayed baby was totally fixed. This enables the budgie to still get around in its box, doesnt tangle like some other methods may do. The only occasional problem can be rejection at times by the mother but most are fine with it. Make sure baby can still get up there to be fed and help it get closer to Mum to be fed if it is having trouble. Check the "splint" in a week...remove and see if legs are better. I usually at this time. if not quite right yet, re-do the split just a fraction closer in together for another week. By then it is usually fixed.

Don't just assume this problem is caused by the floor type of the nesting box or a hen sitting too tightly over the chicks. It can be caused by a lack of calcium in the babies. Best to use a concentrated calcium only supplement both in the drinking water for parents and babies and also by drops into the beak of the affected babies. CALCIVET is a brand we use here in Australia...a calcium supplement that can reverse the symptoms of splay legs if caught early enough. Use both the make up sponge repair method and the supplement together and you should acchieve some success.