10 week old chick not moving!

[Africhicken]

Hi BYC Community

I am concerned. we are first time chicken owners. we love how active our chicks are, running after every bug and always seemingly pecking at something. Today, midday at high humidity and heat, we notice one of our chicks just standing still in the shade. she is not moving at all while the other runs around as usual. she is breathing and gives a squawk when we get near. They have plenty of water, shade, food and a big run. They have been doing everything together but today the one stands still. she was fine when i went to feed them this morning. Could it be heat, exhaustion or a disease? we live in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and we do have a lot of mosquitos (carrying malaria) could this be something? we are unsure of their breed but we got the chickens locally.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

thank you

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello and welcome to BYC!

How old is this chick? And what temperature is it in your area?

It most certainly could be the heat. Especially if these are young chicks. Their internal cooling systems are not yet developed enough to tolerate excessive heat, or cold for that matter. It takes a good 3 months for chicks to develop the ability to tolerate quick changes in heat or cold. if It is overly hot in your area, you will definitely want to cool her off for a few hours. Bring her inside if you have AC or get her in front of a fan. Put a bag of ice in front of the fan so it blows cool air.

Coccidiosis is always a possibility with chicks. This protazoa is everywhere. It blows on the air, it's in the soil and even in the birds intestines at all times. As the chicks immune system grows, it develops some immunity to this parasite. But sometimes they can become overwhelmed with it when it explodes in their environment. Even adult birds can succumb to cocci at times in their lives. Cocci usually causes complete withdrawal from food and water, causes diarrhea and many times you will even see blood in the poop as well, but not always. In which case you will need to get some meds into her. Something with Amprolium in it. We have something called Corid here in the States. But you may need to check with a vet on this. Amprolium is a thiamine blocker which stops this protazoa from reproducing.

Give her an over all exam as well for any injuries. Chicks horse around a lot and they can get pounced on by accident and can even cause internal injuries. So feel around on her body for any hot spots, anything broken or puncture wounds, check her legs and feet, etc..

Of course some chicks do have genetic issues and there could be something going on inside her you can't correct. I doubt this is anything bacteria or fungal, it could be something viral. Mosquitoes do carry all kinds of crud, but chickens have developed a lot of immunity over these thousands of years and really don't get too many things from mosquitoes. Fowl Pox is carried by mosquitoes. The dry form causes wart like welts on the birds combs, faces and wattles. The wet version causes lesions in the mouth, throat and larynx. The dry form will generally run it's course over several weeks. The wet form is more lethal. Mosquito control is your best bet, if possible. (covering windows at night, spraying around the coop to repel mosquitoes, etc...)

Give all this a try and I sure hope you can get her back on her feet soon!

 

[Africhicken]

Hi there!

Thank you so much for your reply! It is much appreciated! We will try all of these. She is 10 weeks old and it is roughly 34C here which is not so unusual but we have very high humidity at the moment (90% percent). I am told locals give their chickens an antibiotic when they are sick but I am still to receive the exact name for this. I will ask for amprolium and/or corid here. She is defiantly not eating. We put lots of her favourite live worms right in front of her and she didn't move. I don't believe she has any injury as I didn't feel anything earlier but she did have an extremely big crop yesterday (when she was still active) would that be worrisome? She does eat a lot generally but yesterday her crop enormously big. I even saw her eat a mosquito! We will do our best to keep as many mosquitos out of the coop as possible.

Thank you so much again.

 

[TwoCrows]

Try to get the Amprolium. She is at the right age she could have coccidiosis. Cocci kills fast. See if you can get her to eat something. Even if that is crackers or some warm human cereal. At this age, they are too young to go long without eating. Try some wet fruits on her like watermelon or other wet fruits. This will not only help with blood sugar levels but hydrate her at the same time.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[Africhicken]

Hi!

Thanks so much for all the advice! We have made a good note of everything. The great news is that she's much better! She got out of the coop by herself today and was hungry! She was a bit slow to jump, fly or run around at first but as the day went on she became just as active as before. We did not end up giving her any medicine but are trying to manage the mosquitos more. Could it have been something she ate? Thank you again ever so much for your help. BYC and your specific reply to our question has really helped us raise our africhicks even on the other side of the planet

 

[TwoCrows]

Hi!

Thanks so much for all the advice! We have made a good note of everything. The great news is that she's much better! She got out of the coop by herself today and was hungry! She was a bit slow to jump, fly or run around at first but as the day went on she became just as active as before. We did not end up giving her any medicine but are trying to manage the mosquitos more. Could it have been something she ate? Thank you again ever so much for your help. BYC and your specific reply to our question has really helped us raise our africhicks even on the other side of the planet

It is not always easy to diagnose a bird completely. It is possible she ate something she shouldn't have or got pounced on and become a bit injured. Sometimes you never can figure out all out.

But I am very glad to hear she is doing much better!!!!

Keep us posted if she needs more help.