1 Sick Chick, 1 Crooked Foot & 1 Wing Issue

[Hudsonshoney]

Hi there,
I have three 5 week old chicks that are having some issues.
1. Onagadori chick that we noticed was no longer able to walk. We thought something was wrong with her legs and isolated her so she wouldn’t get trampled, but the legs look ok and she just seems too weak to stand. She is eating and drinking but is not getting any better.
2. Cream leg bar that looks to have developed a crooked foot. I read about foot braces, would it do any good to try to make her one at 5 weeks old?
3. Another cream leg bar that most of the time holds her wing feathers up. I can’t see anything wrong with the wing (but I also don’t know what I’m looking for) and she can hold it normally, but prefers to keep it this way. Should I tape it down?

Any input would be much appreciated! It looks to be a life or death situation for the first chick.

 

[aart]

1. Onagadori chick that we noticed was no longer able to walk. We thought something was wrong with her legs and isolated her so she wouldn’t get trampled, but the legs look ok and she just seems too weak to stand. She is eating and drinking but is not getting any better.

What all and exactly how are you feeding?
Where did chicks come from....and how long have you had them?

Welcome to BYC...sorry you are having troubles.
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, (laptop version shown), then it's always there!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi there,
I have three 5 week old chicks that are having some issues.
1. Onagadori chick that we noticed was no longer able to walk. We thought something was wrong with her legs and isolated her so she wouldn’t get trampled, but the legs look ok and she just seems too weak to stand. She is eating and drinking but is not getting any better.
2. Cream leg bar that looks to have developed a crooked foot. I read about foot braces, would it do any good to try to make her one at 5 weeks old?
3. Another cream leg bar that most of the time holds her wing feathers up. I can’t see anything wrong with the wing (but I also don’t know what I’m looking for) and she can hold it normally, but prefers to keep it this way. Should I tape it down?

Any input would be much appreciated! It looks to be a life or death situation for the first chick.

No, not really, we do have the food and water on a block of wood so it’s off the ground, but besides that there’s nothing else in there.
Thanks for your help. We’re going to attempt a splibr to see if we can straighten it out a little. She is still thankfully able to walk, just not roost.
Have you had any experience with weak or sick chicks? That one doesn’t seem to have any respitory issues (which is the only sickness we’ve experienced with our other chickens) she is just really weak. We’ll try giving her some vitamins but I’m not sure what else to do.

I'm sorry to hear about your chicks.
How fresh is your feed? Does it have a mill date?

The Onagadori do you have better photos of her? What does the poop look like?
Being weak and something wrong with the legs? Maybe I missed photos of that one?

The one with Crooked Toes, you can try correcting them, but by this age, I don't know if that's possible or not. I agree with giving the vitamin therapy to see if that helps.
Crooked toes can be caused by a few things, usually it's genetic or could be from improper incubation. Since there's a strong possibility that it could be genetic, then you would not want to breed this particular bird. https://poultrykeeper.com/skeletal-and-muscular-disorders/crooked-toes/

The wings, I can only take a guess - Angel Wing? I don't think there is anything you can do to correct it, but again, it's a guess and I'm not familiar with it. This one has a lot of growing to do along with some mini-molts, it's possible the next set of feathers that come in may come in "normal".
http://www.raising-chickens.org/is-my-chicken-okay-.html

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She is eating well now thankfully and seems to be healthy besides her inability to walk. I still can’t tell if it’s an issue with her feet or she’s just not strong enough yet.

Our crooked foot chick is struggling to walk also. She’s always laying down, but seems to be able to hobble over to the food and water when she needs it. I’m wondering if this was all caused by a nutritional deficiency from when I changed their food. we tried the booties for a couple of days but she refused to walk with them.

Once she is done with the Corid, get her on some poultry vitamins that contain B2(Riboflavin) or you can give her 1/4tablet of human B-Complex daily for a week. Wait until you are finished with the Corid though.

She may have some leg issues, sometimes it's hard to know. Do you have a photo of her standing on her own?
___________________________________
The one with crooked feet, that looks like a genetic deformity - could be from improper incubation or even parent stock deficiency. I don't believe you had anything to do with that. Are you offering vitamins to her that has B2? Crooked toes are different from "curled toes". Most of the time Crooked ones cannot be fixed. Curled ones if caught early can sometimes be corrected, but not always.
She may learn to adapt, but sadly sometimes if there is an "external" deformity, there could also be internal development problems too and chicks fail to thrive.

I know you are doing everything you can for them. I hate to say it, but time will tell how this all comes out. Just keep doing what you're doing

 

[Kiki]

Welcome to BYC.
X2 on @aart 's questions also:

What size is the brooder and what temperature is it?
It looks fairly small and I'm wondering if they could be cramped and hurting each other.

Can you explain the foot issue a different way?

 

[Hudsonshoney]

Hi, thank you for your response!

I’m in Asheville NC (will add to my account) and I have them in a brooder in my garage, with heat lamp. We moved the sick one into the house last night since she’s isolated and we only have one what lamp.

They are eating starter feed, I always keep the feeder full. Maybe 3 days ago I switched from an organic starter feed from tractor supply to MannaPro organic starter crumbles that I got at walmart. Other than that, I have sprinkled some parsley in there before, and offered a little dish of chick grit twice in the past 2 weeks.

We ordered them from feather lover farms website and have had them for 5 weeks, so some of them might be closer to 6 weeks now.

What all and exactly how are you feeding?
Where did chicks come from....and how long have you had them?

Welcome to BYC...sorry you are having troubles.
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, (laptop version shown), then it's always there!
View attachment 1678273

 

[Kiki]

No more parsely...that is probably making their poop green. If you stop feeding that and it's still green then something else is going on.

Rooster Booster Poultry Cell

• Kiki
• Jan 23, 2019

 

[Eggcessive]

It may be too late to correct the crooked toes with tape, but you can try.

 

[Hudsonshoney]

Just wanted to post an update that she’s finally showing some improvement! She still can’t walk but she’s getting stronger, chirping, drinking and eating a bit on her own

 

[Wyorp Rock]

The yellow one is now slowly walking so I think she’ll be ok! I attached some pictures.

Thanks for your thoughts on Crooked foot. I will just keep trying and see how it turns out. She was the largest chick we received so it’s just so surprising, but she’s definitely not growing as fast as the others. I have been giving them the liquid vitamins with b2 mixed with their food, but I’ve now taken her out of the brooder to make sure she’s able to eat and not getting trampled.

The white one still doesn't look like she's feeling very well.
Is her crop emptying overnight?
Do you have photos of her poop?

The other one - Cream Legbar? Does her leg always stick out like that on the side?
It also looks like the wrapped foot leg is bigger than the other and the hock is rotated?
Is that right? Sometimes the angle of photos can make things appear different than in "real life".
If the leg is rotated, then I would take a guess that she has rotated tibia or could be Valgus Varus or some other leg bone deformity.