Spraddle Legs (aka Splay Leg)

[John W Blehm]

I've searched the internet about this and I haven't found one site that puts the blame on genetics, yet that appears to be the problem from my experience this year.  Most claim it is environmental and some mention nutrition/vitamin deficiency.  Ove the years I've had a few chicks hatch with spraddle leg(s), but it wasn't often.  I killed the bad ones and those with a mild case generally straightened out after a few days on the hardware cloth in the brooder.
This year I am noticing it predominantly in my bantam lavenders with the hatches each week.  Today 4 of the 7 chicks have it.  All the breeder chickens are on the same diet/game bird breeder ration, all on 16 hours of light and most in the same barn with many different coops.  The eggs from many different varieties and breeding coops are gathered daily, stored together and hatched together. 
If anyone has any leads to causes other than what I've mentioned, please let me know. 

[Tailfeathers]

John, I haven't spent a lot of time looking into this but I would tend to agree with you.  I don't know why, though, there hasn't been someone these days who's actually looked into it for like a college research paper or something.  And, like the difference between curled toes and crooked toes where one is due to a vitamin deficiency and the other a humidity problem or possibly genetics, I wonder if there is anything like that with the Spraddle Legs.

I usually have 1 or 2 chicks with spraddle leg a year.  Can't remember for sure but it seems like they were always chicks that hatched in the turning trays and fell to the bottom because I forgot to put the eggs in the hatching tray when I should have.  I've tried to fix it in the past with some of the recommended procedures seen online but I don't think with any success.  I think I would up just putting them all down and today I just don't mess with it.  No time for it.

If it were me, and it just showed up in a particular year and a particular breeding pen, I'd be inclined to go with genetic.  Especially if I hatched out other breeds at the same time with no problems.  Now, if on the other hand, I had chicks all of the sudden from several breeding pens and/or breeding popping them out like that I'd be inclined to think incubator problem.  Either my Temp or Humidity wasn't reading right.  (I keep one of those Walmart $5 temp/humidity things at the front of each incubator where I can glance at it regularly as I walk by a few times a day.  My Sportsman is in my bathroom.  )

Just thought I'd throw that out there but, I know, you've likely already considered that.

[Suki]

I have had a lot of splay legs and found the issue to be vitamin related or environmental.  I believe that as the same birds producing the same eggs in a different incubator did not have the problem so it was an enviro problem -- typically the humidity is too high.  Curled toe is definitely a vitamin issue .  Splay legs OTOH is not easily cured, I've tried the different "cures" in books, on Youtube and mentioned.  They all fail and either the bird is hobbled permanently or dies.

Sue

[John W Blehm]

I hatched the bantam lavenders on 1/4" hardware cloth this week, instead of directly on the plastic hatch baskets.  There were still 2 out of 8 with spraddle legs. 

[Suki]

So i take it that these chicks are straight out of the shell?

[John W Blehm]

So i take it that these chicks are straight out of the shell?

Yes and there were more of the same this week.

[Mike Gilbert]

John, are these splay legged chicks out of brother-sister matings by chance?   I was just wondering if they were getting too inbred at this stage of the game.

[John W Blehm]

John, are these splay legged chicks out of brother-sister matings by chance?   I was just wondering if they were getting too inbred at this stage of the game.

Two of the 7 females were full or partial siblings to the 2 males used in that flock mating.  I don't know which gals were laying the eggs, but still it has been 50% or more of the chicks with the spraddle/splay legs. 
The other day I moved them into individual breeding coops and now no siblings are mated.