2.5 week chick not using legs and feet

[KKane61]

I have 2.5 week chick that was walking fine and, in the past couple of days, has not been using her legs much. Is is possible to develop splay leg at this age? Her legs are not splayed out to the side but appear very weak and she does not wrap her feet around anything at all.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Eggcessive]

She may have a vitamin deficiency, be suffering from dehydration, or she could have been injured. I would get some chick vitamins, such as SaveAChick or Durvet, to add to her water and dip her beak or feed her with a syringe or dropper. Offer a bit of cooked or raw egg, mixed into chick crumbles and yogurt. Did you get this chick from a hatchery, a feedstore, a breeder, or do you hatch it yourself? AE or avian encephalomyelitis is a disease that can affect chicks this age causing paralysis, but it should have shown up earlier, I would think. Is she in a brooder with chicks the same age?

 

[KKane61]

Yes, she is in a brooder with 3 other chicks. They have lots of room to move around and are being fed commercial chick crumbles. She has been bright and alert but I noticed she hasn't been moving around as much the past couple of days. Today she can't stand and doesn't even try to close her feet around anythingz I got her and the chicks from a feed store that I have purchased chicks from in the past (never any problems in the past and no deaths). I will try vitamins. Thanks for your help.

 

[Eggcessive]

I hope that she improves with fluids and vitamins. Please give an update later on how she is doing.

 

[KKane61]

My chick is back to normal!!! I gave her vitamins and several times a day did range of motion exercises on her legs. It took about 2.5 days but she is back running around and perching on a stick. Thanks for the help!

 

[Eggcessive]

That is good news.