Splay leg budgie tips?

I have a chick with splay leg who I don't think will make significant progress in having the legs treated.



When I was in high school, one of the teachers had a cage of birds and a splay budgie among them. The bird did fine, but was a little unique. She chouldn't move around like the others, but she could climb and perch and stuff. However, the teacher did things with her birds I did not agree with, so I would like more input from you guys, whom I trust much more than a kindly old woman with 5 budgies and a lovebird in a (large) tabletop style bird cage. For all of my bird experience, that was my only experience with a splay bird until now.



I would love tips on care, feeding, and cage setup. In all liklihood the chick will live here for all of her life. We have discussed it and even if someone with bird experience comes forward to buy a bird, we just think that as her breeder it is the most responsible thing to keep her and make sure she gets the level of care she needs to truely live the best life she can. She is about 4 weeks old. I have been tapig the legs for about a week now, and some progress has been made, but the progress has slowed significantly, and the chick is starting to act like the brace is quite uncomfortable. We are thinking about backing off with the treatment and seeing how the chick develops. If she has significant quality of life issues, I have a couple of vets in mind to talk to about risk assessment for surgical correction on a tiny budgie.



She is quite a special bird, and very, very, *very* sweet. We have been calling her "Legs" lately, as sort of a hat tip to those old private eye/detective tv shows where there would be a gimick of some sort and often anyone in a wheelchair was called Legs.



We do not have internet(or running water, or an oven, etc etc etc) at the farm yet, so please forgive any typos or spelling errors. All internetting for me and most of my fiancee's internetting is done through my cell phone data(he gets 250mb a month and I get 12 gb split 3 ways currently. Cell phones are also on the list, but it is a long list starting a life).


I hope I put this in the right place, but feel free to move the thread if not. There were so many places I thought this would fit since I am interested in cage setup, feeding, thoughts on keeping up with taping the legs, etc.


Bug n Flock



And one very special baby budgie

Tape m up (if the bird is still young enough, otherwise get some orthopedic help)



well, find and experienced breeder/ CAV/ other that will do it for you.


The younger you fix this, the happier the bird will be.


In humans: remember those babies in plastercasts?
Of course these kids will learn to walk without all that help, but usually they are in line for an artificial hip by the time they are halfway their fourties!
And that is years and years of pain and suffering before doctors will operate (because artificial joints do not last very long, and cannot be replaced indefinitely)


So- fix em young (human and other animals) and let them have hip- and knee-joints as close to normal as possible, and prevent much suffering in the later years of their lives.


It is that simple.

Ok... I *have* been taping, I *do* have a vet, I *have* experience breeding birds and such, and I don't need someone else to tape the legs for me since I have been addressing the issue already and the issue is not my lack of ability to tape the legs, but the increasing rigidity of the aging nestling's skeleton and the fact that she is acting differently(as tho the taped legs are very uncomfortable) but thanks for the input anyway..

I sounded to me you started taping waaay too late and were about to give up.


(at the school whenever they found a splaylegged one it was the last day of that birds life -> farmers think longterm and since that bird would not have optimal quality of life and probably be in a load of pain later on they always decided it was kinder to end it right there and then)

Check out the link
https://www.cutelittlebirdiesaviary.com/splayed-leg-prevention-and-treatment.html

Yes I know starting at 3 weeks was late. There were extenuating circumstances that prevented me effectively treating earlier.Ii did try treating starting at 2 weeks, but did not have the proper supplies and was alone without a vehicle to get said supplies for a week. This is not city living, taxis, busses, uber don't exist out here and I did the best I could. I am looking for input on my current situation, however, not criticism for lack of earlier action. I decided that waiting a week to treat was better than risking removing the bird's skin using too strong an adhesive. Tissue wrapping under the adhesive was also not effective and the bird just kicked off the brace done that way.



Thanks for the link, it is one of many that I have read over and over again.



Also, what farm were you on? My farming mentors had all kinds of advice to try and help this little one. Sadly none too effective(even day old bantam chicks are larger than budgies by a LOT) Splay leg is pretty common in chickens and I've never met a farmer who advocates culling due to it. They all treat. Sorry you were around a less than stellar farm...

To be clear: I'm not going to cull or give up on the chick, don't worry.



We just relocated to rural mountanous Kentucky from the Suburbs of Washington DC. To give you an idea of how not giving up on this chick we are dedicated to, the vets I would trust to do this surgery if Legs needs it, are in the DC area. That is a 500 mile one way trip to pay a lot(these are posh DC area avian vets- great at what they do, but expeeeensiveeee) to get a non critical to life surgery done. On a budgie. We are committed to doing what is best for this little one, no matter the cost. The backing off on taping we are considering is only due to wanting not to cause pain. sorry if I wasn't clear on this or was getting defensive. I may give my birds names that are a bit atypical and off color, but I assure you I am completely dedicated to them and their wellbeing.

Exactly how old is this Budgie?

With splayed-legs, unfortunately it's not just about "taping" them up, but rather not allowing them to touch the ground for a good period of time while they are taped-up. If this Budgie is less than 6 months old there is a chance to strengthen the muscles in it's legs and to make the splayed-legs better, but probably not perfect or normal...However, the key isn't just taping them together, it's actually taping them together and then actually suspending the bird for most of the day and night with the legs taped, because as soon as he stands on them and puts weight on them, that immediately stops the muscles from strengthening and growing in the correct direction.

I have seen this done several times to many different chicks, and it's a pain in the butt, but it works. Basicallly you have to rig something like a large, plastic cup, you fill it up with bedding/shredded paper just to the point where it's feet barely touch the top of the bedding (not for support, as they can't put their weight down on it, but rather just so they feel something below their feet, and to collect droppings)...Then you have to cover the top opening of the cup with something like cardboard and secure it onto the cup so it covers the entire opening...Then you cut a hole in the cardboard or what you used to cover the opening with that is just large enough for the bird's body to fit through, and it's wings actually go on the outside of the cup along with the top of it's body/head, so that it's wings are actually suspending it and it's legs have no weight on them...Before you do this you have to tape the legs together, usually including a piece of foam shaped like a little wedge to place in-between them and tape around, so that it's legs are in a straight, "correct" position...And that's how the bird has to stay every day, all day long except when it's let out to eat. This allows the legs to grow in that position, and if you keep the bird like that for about 3 weeks to a month, that's the best and really the only way to correct it...

If the bird is older than 6 months, then it's legs are already fully grown and then it's just all about modifying it's cage and it's entire environment to fit it's permanent disibility. The more you can get the bird using it's legs, or at least trying to use it's legs, the stronger they will become and the more he'll be able to use them to get around, albeit in his own, unique way that his body comes up with. Some birds over time will become strong enough to perch, to climb, etc., but that's all dependent on how much he uses them every single day and get his muscles strengthened and he becomes more and more able to use them. That's really all you can do, basically get him walking around, crawling around, etc. as much as possible...

In the meantime, you want to design his cage so it's low and wide instead of the typical tall and narrow. It needs to have a flat bottom instead of a grate, so removing the grate and putting down newspaper or cage lines and changing them often so he's not walking/laying in poop. Add lots of different types of ladders, ramps, etc. that lead to perches that are very low and are wider than the normal dowel-rod perches, so that he can support his body on them without having to perch if he can't. The more he learns to move himself around, the stronger they will get and the more he'll be able to do.

Legs is 4 weeks old and still in the nest. I take her out for taping and handling. She is still being fed by the parents 100%.


From phone

Well, if he is only 4 weeks old then there is a great possibility to actually reverse a lot if not most of the splayed-legs, but again, just taping them is only 50% of the treatment, the other 50% being doing your best to keep his legs taped and in a "normal", upright position and straight, and also trying to reduce the amount of weight that he's putting on them. The more weight he puts on his legs while he's taped, the less his legs/muscles will develop and grow in the correct, upright position, and they'll just go right back to being splayed-out as soon as the tape comes off...So figuring out how to keep him off his feet as often as you can will help him tremendously, even if it's holding him as much as you can when you're home, just holding him with his legs taped and keeping all the weight off of his feet. Doing that as much as you possibly can will help more and more each time you do it...

Oh, gee. You mean I have to *hold* this sweet adorable budgie? *groaaaaaannnn*



Yeah I can do that. Lol