FOCUS ON HEALTH
Splayed legs
With this condition, initially the chick will hatch out normally and appears to progress as usual. Then as it develops you notice that it looks “flattened”. The body appears flatter and the legs point outwards as though they cannot support the body.
There have been many theories about the cause of this problem. Possible culprits include:
■ The hen or both parents sitting too hard on the chicks
■ Rickets
■ Lack of protein
■ A hereditary problem
I have recently put some thought into this problem and realised that I have not had this condition in my birdroom for some years. Previously in I have described my feeding régime (see “Feeding before breeding”, April 14, 2021, and “Feeding during breeding”, C&AB April 21, 2021). In those articles I explained the need to feed a range of ingredients to support the birds while breeding. I have additionally discussed the feeding of a mineral and vitamin supplement and also a calcium
