FINCHforum

He/she has severely curled up feet. Both of them. Has been traveling the bottom of the cage by flopping along on his/her belly. One leg appears to be stronger than the other.

Went to look again after a while, saw him laying on his side. Dad nearby, as I climbed up on the stepstool to reach inside in a panic. Either baby pushed, or Dad did, and baby flipped over on his back, struggling like a flipped turtle. I righted him, and he seems okay. Apparently he had gotten hung up by one of the edges of the paper towel lining the bottom, and toppled. So I have taken a paper towel and rolled the edge in to form a ring, and put him inside. He has room to move, it's about 4 inches across, and can rest on the edge as it's low, to keep his head higher than the rest of him.

Have seen Dad feed both babies. Nest box is gone from above. Don't yell at me, but with fledgling #1 on the bottom, and baby #2 up top in the box, the parents were confused and hadn't actually fed either chick all morning, for hours, so I took down the nest and gently dumped #2 on the bottom next to #1.

#1 was rather weak legged this morning, but is getting better at holding his weight up. Guess the nest wasn't conducive to standing practice?

Suggestions for what I might do for #2? Hoping he will straighten and strengthen up a bit on his own now that he has room and obvious desire to move. However, right now toes are completely curled past each other, and foot is bent back severely at what I guess is the ankle, so I doubt we will see anywhere near complete recovery. Not worried about breeding stock, just want to do the best for him, and if we can't help his feet, we will adapt the cage.

Just found him on his back again, looking quite perturbed.

I can't give any advice, since I've never had to deal with this sort of issue, but others have and I'm sure someone can help you out. But in the meantime, try to get a picture of him. It will likely help in figuring out what might be done for him.

Yes, a picture would help. I've seen splayed legs, but this sounds different. If the foot is bent back that badly, it sounds like perhaps it is broken. You have done the right thing by forming a bowl for the baby. One thing that people will do for splay legs when the baby is much younger is to set the baby in a small bowl with shredded paper, so the legs can sink down through the paper more underneath the body, instead of out to the side. But with a baby this old, I don't have any idea of this would work.

The chick has me a bit upset. It is trying SO hard, but it appears to have useless feet, and maybe legs. It is down on the bottom of the cage, in a wide papertowel 'nest" I made to keep it from tipping itself over flop-hopping around the cage. He has room to move and strengthen himself, but hopefully not so much to get in trouble.

Do I give it access to water? to seed? I have seen the parents down there feeding both chicks, but enough? do they expect them to start taking care of themselves, and he can't, yet? His cheeps are much softer and scratchier than his sibling, when the other one isn't staying snugged up against him, will the parents hear and answer his calls alone?

He sits there, all fluffy-feathered and determined, shoving himself around his little paper-towel world. He is strong, even if his legs aren't. His sibling is now able to stand tall at times, and climbed up onto the edge of the low foodbowl in the cage twice this morning. They snuggle together, but what happens when the other takes off?

I am completely new to baby birds. (Have not let all those parakeets breed yet.) I can certainly take care of this little guy however he needs, I just don't know what to do for him.

can you get a picture of the feet...there may be a way of helping the feet uncurl. You would have to uncurl then and but like a rolled piece of tissue, guaze or cotton under then and use a vet wrap in thin pieces to hold it out...I have a diagram of this somewhere...if I can find it I will post it. The bones might still be soft enough to help right the foot.

will try for pictures. when I pick him up, he curls up tight, in fear, I guess. I am home alone, which makes holding and photographing hard, and there are a couple cats to contend with stashing (try and find both at once to be sure they're locked away...!). If I can't do it today, will get some once I have others home this evening to assist.

He is 27 days old today, what do I feed him if it looks like the parents aren't doing enough?

Okay, got lucky found both cats sleeping in same room for once. Door closed, photo mission accomplished
Here is Hopper, since I can't just keep calling him Baby #2:


Hopper's poor little feet:





Hopper, and with his sibling Eaglet (Baby #1)

he/she is cute. I hope someone here can help.

I agree with Cindy. Put a small piece of rolled paper towel or cotton or toilet paper to hold the claws in a good position. Then use first aid wrapping tape to set the leg in the correct position. The fledge may have broke the leg when it fell from the nest or something. Put the leg in the correct position and tape it with the first aid tape.

The pic looks like a weak leg or lack of muscle strength? If you think it need more support, you could use a small piece of cardboard, cut from toilet paper or paper towel roll to support the leg and tape to the cardboard etc. I hope the baby is alright. I've had babies with deformed feet and they adjust. I also have a finch I rescued who only has one leg and she does fairly well with a platform perch and thicker regular perches. She rests her body on the perch and alternates with the good foot.

Hopper didn't fall from the nest, I took him out yesterday when, hours after Eaglet had dropped, the parents, confused by the multiple location of the chicks, hadn't fed either. Obviously, Hopper wasn't going to be able to get himself out. (Have decided to call him/her "him" rather than "it". Just seems better.)

"First aid wrapping tape" -- does that mean something like gauze, or is it tape with actual sticky stuff?

His feet remind me of my friend in college who had cerebral palsy, and tended to curl her hands when not thinking about it, or my dad's bad arm & hand after his stroke. But when he wants to get somewhere, he is pushing himself along with his legs, plowing along on his chest. Gonna rub all the feathers off at this rate. Hasn't tipped over on his side or back today, so that's improved.

Joked this morning about setting him on one of those little finger-skateboards so he can scoot around. Wonder if I can find one of my son's....

Will work on setting his feet, going to go look for supplies, may need to wait until someone else gets home to help me, I don't see fine-detail very well anymore, and those little feet are curled real tight at times.

Mostly concerned about feeding him right now, he's nowhere near as loud as Eaglet, who is getting bolder about moving around the cage, and so is calling the parents when not near quiet little Hopper. Since they are 27 days old, do I feed him something more like weaning food stuff? softened/boiled or mashed seeds? can I use the stuff with pellets in it if I just keep making fresh batches? I don't drive, and not sure that any of the little pet stores in our small towns would even have handfeeding food for hubby to stop at on his way home from work, don't have time for a trip out to nearby little city that has some real stores.

I would make hard boiled eggfood, maybe without the shells at this point. You can also put a millet spray on a paper plate or towel on bottom and a shallow water dish. You may need to hand feed something, if he really isn't getting much from parents, but he may be motivated to learn to eat on his own faster, given the circumstances. I'll post a pic of my crippled finches, so you can see the set up. For a fledge, they can adapt well, but you may be able to stregthen the leg with the sticky white first aid tape, the kind that says doesn't stick to hair is best, so it won't hurt the baby. If you have a local pharmacy, you can ask the pharmacist what first aid tape would be the most gentle and not stick to hair (feathers). I'd wrap it around the leg with a cut piece of the toilet paper roll to use as a splint. Then, put a small roll of cotton or paper towel between the toes/claws to help them not curl up completely. If both legs are weak, you make need to give the other leg some support with the tape too. Sally does something like this is a fledge has splayed or weak legs. Make sure the bottom of the cage has a supportive bottom, such as paper towel, like Bounty, which is sort of coarse, but stays in place better than some lighter brands.

His legs don't look broken or damaged in any way to me. Maybe it is just that his legs are too weak to support his weight. I would try to figure out a way to straighten his toes in the proper position, getting them under him and see if they don't get stronger over time.
I actually like your finger skateboard idea very much, very similar to a baby seat that most all kids used to get around when they were little.
I also would up the protein with hard boiled eggs. Don't worry about adding anything extra like veggies etc, you want to protein content high and not diluted with extras.
Let us know if you can't physically straighten those toes cause that would change everything.
best of luck and keep us posted

Saw him tip over, and then right himself after a bit. He is getting better at pushing himself around on his chest. So he is getting stronger. His feet are completely curled up under him as he does, tho.

Made a little water dish from a bottle lid with a waterbottle-spout-lid fit inside, this way there is a little water available, but not enough that if he flops on it, he can drown. Have seen him drink, or at least it looks like it. Put some of their food to soak & soften, the pellets mushed up right away, so took some of that very liquid mush and put it in a water jug lid. He seemed to eat some of that, too, so I have an egg boiling right now.

See, that's the thing, he is strong and determined, despite his problem. If he was very weak and sickly, I would be questioning whether it was worth trying and prolonging the probable. I can picture a special little low cage, full of ramps instead of perches, like a little marble maze, so he could scoot along all day, and that would be okay, as long as he wasn't suffering. All these pets are to keep me company and bring some life into this empty house I am stuck alone in all day.

Will call hubby and tell him to stop at the pharmacy on the way home and ask for the gentlest tape they have.

Here are pics of my handicap ladder and perch. My Society finches, one with only one leg and the other with a bum right foot, which curls like your finch. They get around fairly well and do fly some, but not well. They were both rescues from breeders who did not want to keep them.

Have you tried to gently pry open the toes? As Debbie mentioned, the legs really don't look deformed to me either. A lot of my birds will tightly clutch their "fist" like that when I pick them up out of fear. They look just like that. Maybe just too weak to stand? Maybe some liquid calcium will help? I think in a few more days you'll have a much better idea of what is going on if the bird continues to survive and gain strength.
In any case I would continue to do what I could to allow the bird to eat and grow. If the parents are feeding it, I wouldn't intervene too much. Put some spray millets and whole grain oat bread within reach as well as a shallow water dish. If it is a leg problem, birds CAN get along without the use of one or both legs as long as they can fly and you make proper cage adjustments. I also have a one legged bird and have created a shelf-like pirch similar to Deborah's. Good luck and keep us posted. Bob