4 Week Old Chick Suddenly Can't Stand Up? Others Fine? HELP, Please"

I have 22 - 4 week old chicks. All of a sudden yesterday, one of them couldn't stand up. All the others are fine. I have removed her from the brooder coop and am keeping her in a box in the house. She is eating, drinking and pooping. She has plenty of strength in her wings but as soon as she tries to stand up, she falls back on her butt. If I hold her she can kick her legs but she doesn't seem to have feeling in her feet, perhaps? All the chicks have gotten "Quick Chick" since the day they arrived at 3 days old. They get a mixture of 22% Meaty Bird pellets & 17% Layer Mash free choice. They also get Calcium & Grit free choice and we're put outside about a week and a half with the brooder in a run. I've introduced them to apple and orange pieces and they've had the soil/dirt from the coop area in their brooder box from the get girl. If any of you have any ideas as to what I can do for her and/or what the problem might be, PLEASE help! TIA

4 week old chicks shouldn't be getting layer nor oyster shells yet, all that doesn't get fed until they begin laying. I would check it over for signs of injury. The best you can do is let it rest, and get all that extra calcium out of the diet and perhaps lowering the protein to a grower at 18%, it's possibly from a dietary imbalance.

oldhenlikesdogs said:

4 week old chicks shouldn't be getting layer nor oyster shells yet, all that doesn't get fed until they begin laying. I would check it over for signs of injury. The best you can do is let it rest, and get all that extra calcium out of the diet and perhaps lowering the protein to a grower at 18%, it's possibly from a dietary imbalance.

Click to expand...

Agreed, maybe adding vitamin supplements / electrolytes to the drinking water may help things along the way.

CT

I know that calcium to that extent can harm a growing chicks organs also that feed won't give the chick the balance of nutrients they need. I would guess what's happening to her is a deficiency. switch feed to chick feed, remove the oyster she'll and give her a good balanced poultry vitamin. first state vet supply online has some very good poultry vitamins. I would try to include a E, and B vitamin amount others. Defiency can take up to a month to heal.Hopefully once you get the nutrients she needs and extra vitamins she will be able to walk again. Be consistent with her treatment and have patients. hopefully she will come around soon. I really hope this helps a little. best wishes. please keep us posted on her condition. you likely will have to help her eat and drink during treatment until her legs are working better. hope she recovers soon!

The calcium/phosphorus ratio is terribly unbalanced for a growing chick. I wouldn't be surprised if the chick has hypophosphatemic rickets, which does eventually cause them to become lame. Get all the chicks on chick starter feed ASAP. If it is rickets, I am unsure if the associated growth deformities can be "fixed" or "reversed".

WOW, thanks for all the help & info. My local farm supply store only carries Chick Starter in 5 lb bags so I got the "Meaty Bird" starter for them but figured I'd add the Layer mash to lower the protein level from 22% to closer to the recommended 18% for layer birds . Will remove the calcium immediately from the chicks coop and make some calls to see if I can get a decent Starter feed in larger quantity. The "Quick Start" that I add to their water has Vitamins A, D3, E, Riboflavin, d Pantothenic Acid, Menedione Biosulfite complex, Folic Acid, Thiamine Mononitrate, Potassium and Sodium as Chloride Salts. Should I add something more or different? I will continue her treatment for as long as it takes as I can't bear to see her die. I've already lost a couple to suffocation by other chicks and one to a large piece of plywood blowing over and smashing the poor thing (board has been removed to another location outside the coop/run!). Can you tell I'm a first time chic mama? Thanks again for your help. Please pray for my babies and me

You've got a decent vitamin supplement. May want to add a probiotic, but the most important thing is to get that food changed.

ETA: looks like if your farm store doesn't carry anything larger, you will have more options if you can make the drive to West Plains

you can also order food online. perhaps get the small bag order the large one online and the small bag can hold you over. The issue with layer feed is the calcium level. it's too high for the Littles ones organs. hope this helps!

Jensownzoo said:

You've got a decent vitamin supplement. May want to add a probiotic, but the most important thing is to get that food changed.

ETA: looks like if your farm store doesn't carry anything larger, you will have more options if you can make the drive to West Plains

Click to expand...

Thanks Jensownzoo. The Quick Chick is supposed to be an electrolyte solution as well as a vitamin supplement. It is what Murray McMurray Hatchery recommends.... I got all the food and calcium removed from thei coop & run......

realsis said:

you can also order food online. perhaps get the small bag order the large one online and the small bag can hold you over. The issue with layer feed is the calcium level. it's too high for the Littles ones organs. hope this helps!

Click to expand...

Thanks realsis. I was able to find Chick Starter in 50lb bags in Alton, MO, just 9 miles away so ran over and got it first thing this am. The littles have it loaded in their feeders and are getting used to it. Little "BooBoo" really seems to like this new feed . She went right for it. I've also got some grit with a bit of scratch and coop dirt in the box with her. She seems content and chirps prettily.

I am hopeful that now she will recuperate with some time and the correct food. THANK YOU ALL SOOO MUCH for your fast response and great info. I love my chickens and don't want anything to happen to them :cd I'm pretty upset with the other farm/feed store for leading me astray!

I may go all the way to West Plains from now on for basic supplies other than the feed I now know I can get in Alton!

Like all people that work in stores, some know what they are talking about, and some DO NOT.

Might want to get that one chick back with it's flock mates sooner rather than later....
.....they may reject it, and you'll have to do some chicken juggling to get them all back together.