11 week old Sussex sitting down!

PouleChick

Crowing
7 Years
Apr 6, 2016
2,159
6,289
447
SW France
Help please! I'm a totally new chicken owner and got my 3 chooks a few days before Christmas. Mabel is 11 weeks old, a light Sussex. Last week I noticed that she was sitting down a lot, still alert, eating, drinking, normal poop. I was starting to get concerned and was going to separate from the others and then the next day she was fine.
This is a photo of Mabel last week (10 weeks old) when she was doing it (and my darling little Clementine who seems to go and sit with her sometimes when she is doing it).
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The next day she was fine, perky and alert and running about so I took a breath of relief and carried on enjoying my new chooks!
This pic is from the following day when she was back to her self:
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You can imagine how sad I was this morning to go out and find her sitting down again. Both times I've done head to toe checks of her (I'm new to chickens but grew up on a farm and I'm a nurse so pretty good I think at doing a proper head to toe assessments!) and can't find anything 'wrong' with her.
This afternoon I went to my local garden / animal store and bought a few things. Firstly some chick crumbles I think I may have not been using the best feed (cracked up into little pieces mixed grains / corn / etc - the guy I bought off had been using similar but who knows if that was right!). The guy at the shop said to feed them on the crumbles for a month or so more and that is better for them. I also got some vitamins and some grit (been using sand and they have had 4+ hours outside in thier 'playpen' each day so thought that was enough but don't want to miss anything).
Has anyone got any ideas / thoughts / etc? I read about Mareks on here and started to panic so went and did another full check of her and couldnt' find any problems / symptoms of that other than the sitting down!

One thing I did read on one thread on here was about dehydration (have been reading through all the threads that may be useful!) - they have a bottle with a nipple but due to them still being in the little coop and they have grown lots the last 2 weeks I wonder if she finds it hard to get the water if it means she has to duck down too much?

Driving myself crazy and keep expecting to find her dead but she is quite bright eyed, not distressed, eating, drinking (I think but maybe not as much as I thought), and pooping just kind of flopped on the floor :hmm

Please any ideas / advice / things to check / things to try or do most appreciated.

I'm off to bed as it is after 11 here in France so if I dont' reply straight away that is why! i look forward to hearing your ideas!

Oh just better add, the other day when she perked up I'd just been giving water then gave some ACV mixed in and then she was better next day - co-incidence or not?
 
I see a perfectly normal chick enjoying a nap in the sunshine. As long as they are all eating and drinking normally, don't worry.
Thanks for replying so quickly! Yes she was enjoying the sun but I'd carried her out (they live in my laundry in a small coop and I carry them outside to the run each morning until I get the proper coops sorted) and she just sat there and 'flopped' if she needed to move rather than walking. Same again today (sorry no pics). Thank you that does make me feel better abougt the eating / drinking - I probably need to spend a bit more time to see really how much she is eating. This morning her crop was only a bit full, not as much as the other 2s. Again as a newbie I'm still learning what is normal so so hard to do diagnostics!
 
I just lost a VERY AMAZING chicken. I would hate for you to lose your chick. My chicken sat down strangely, before I noticed something was wrong. but I just thought it was normal bcuz she had been doing it for a while. then one night she was sitting and weak just out of the blue, she didn't live after that. so keep an eye on her if she starts panting or loosing weight then definitely post it!
 
Fall pullets enjoying a rare day of sunshine. They sunbathe for hours, especially if it's been overcast and rainy for weeks on end.
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Awwww bless them they look like they are so loving that! I would be so OK that that is what she was doing but it is when I go in in the morning inside (small coop in an outside room) she is already sat down :(
 
I just lost a VERY AMAZING chicken. I would hate for you to lose your chick. My chicken sat down strangely, before I noticed something was wrong. but I just thought it was normal bcuz she had been doing it for a while. then one night she was sitting and weak just out of the blue, she didn't live after that. so keep an eye on her if she starts panting or loosing weight then definitely post it!
So sorry your lost your lovely chicken. Do you know what was wrong with her or what took her? I'll absolutely post if there is anything else i notice. For the moment breathing etc all good x
 
Morning! I just went out and she is still not behaving normally, sitting down and didn't get up when she saw me, she put her wings out to help manoeuvre herself (I think) she did stand up briefly but not totally (kind of hunched) to get to the warm porridge I took out to them so she can stand (ish).

Can anyone think of anything I may be missing???? Really don't want to loose her for something stupid / newbie error on my part I didn't expect to love them quite this much quite this soon!
 

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