1 month old baby chick having difficulty standing

[krazykatz13]

I have a 4 week old baby chick that I noticed yesterday was having difficulty standing and walking. It appears to only be in one leg but I could not find any noticeable problems (swollen hock, crooked toes) I had her in with 3 other chicks but put her by herself because the others were stepping on her. She eats and drinks but mostly sits in one place. When I pick her up, one leg is drawn up an one hangs down but she can hold both up or down. I have 12 chicks in all and she is the only one with this problem. I am feeding Purina medicated chick starter/grower. Any ideas or suggestions?

 

[fried green eggs]

I don't know. You might want to post your question in Emergencies/Diseasese/injuries thread Hope someone can help you.

 

[afarrington2]

I am not sure what is happening to your chick. I believe you should listen to the above user’s post.I tried to do some research but i didn't’t find anything quite useful. What you must urgently do is separate him from the rest of the flock to inside your house. Or a nice comfortable place where he can rest in peace. He should be in a warm area with no drafts and access to plenty of water and poultry feed. Make sure he gets alto of calcium and foods enriched with Vitamin C. Also give him Oyster shell. Give him all of these products so that he can gain strong once again. How long has your chick been acting like this?


https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/10/emergencies-diseases-injuries-and-cures
Vitamin C Foods: http://www.healthaliciousness.com/articles/vitamin-C.php
I wish you great Luck with everything!
Hope this helped

 

[RonC]

Here's a link that might help. It is about leg problems with chickens. Can't take credit for finding it but saved it for future reference. http://thebreed.yuku.com/topic/367/...spraddle-leg---t--chick--t-stand#.T9-H67WXS8A The calcium/oyster shells isn't a good idea for young chicks, can cause other problems.

 

[krazykatz13]

I have tried giving her oyster shell but she will not eat it. I tried taping her legs in a splint but she just falls over and kicks and ends up stuck on her back. I even cut a Capri Sun box to fit around her, with an opening for poop and a cut out for her neck but she still manages to flip it and herself upside down. Her feet seem to want to stick straight out behind her instead of her sitting or standing on them. I bought some electrolyte tablets at TSC and have been putting that in her water but has not seemed to help either. She eats and drinks as long as she is sitting in front of the food and water but if she tries to move, she is upside down. Please let me know if anyone has any ideas or suggestions or if I should just put her down.

 

[fried green eggs]

I wouldn't give her the oyster shells this young. I had a chick born with one foot that didn't work and one leg was drawn up. It couldn't walk and would end up on it's back. I made the little booties out of light cardboard shaped like it's foot should be and taped them on with bandaids. I made one for each foot so, it would have to try. I also did physical therapy 6X a day for the chick. I would pick the chick up and stretch it's drawn up leg, to help muscles lenghten. Maybe you should hold leg in normal bent/sitting position too. Doing this fixed my chicks leg and foot with in a few days. Maybe your got hurt jumping or ? If you do a search on "deformed foot on chick" on this site you will find more info. Good Luck!

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I don't know what is wrong with your chick, but here are some links that I wanted you to have in case you decide this matches your chick's condition:

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/6/diseases-of-poultry/218/vitamin-e-deficiency

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/206924.htm

http://www.ca.uky.edu/smallflocks/Nutrient_deficiencies.html#vitaminE

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044
and this one is for general diseases, diagnosis charts at bottom in case you need them

http://browneggblueegg.com/Article.html
If you click on the left column on the "crookneck" article (yes I know your chick doesn't have crookneck, but bear with me) the article lists some recommendations for vitamin e dosages for poultry vitamin therapy.