2 Week Old Chick Lethargic and not able to Stand

[JenB24]

I have 12 chicks that were born on June 25th and shipped to me (I received them on the 26th; all were vaccinated for Marek's). I have them in 4 connected guinea pig habitats with a brooder and aspen chips. One of my most vigorous chicks has rapidly declined in the past few days. Sally is either a Dominique or Barred Rock. She was fine until yesterday. I was away for a few hours on Monday but handled her on Monday night and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. On Sunday, she was very active and every time I opened the top to fill food or water, she would jump out on top of the cages and run on the wire - I had to catch her a few times that day and I'm wondering if somehow she was injured. Yesterday, I noticed that she was spending a lot of time under the brooder and I noticed that she did not come out to eat or drink - she didn't run when I went to pick her up and was very sleepy. Most the day, she was able to stand and was just sleeping a lot. I decided to wait it out and see if she was just having a day that she needed to sleep. This morning, she was much worse. She appears to have lost weight and I can hold her on her back and she will occasionally struggle. I started vitamin and electrolyte solution and she seems to be awake for longer periods of time and but still cannot stand, even though she tries to at times (she can't keep her chest up) and it is unclear to me if she is weak on her left side (no curled toes as far as I can tell). She tries to walk when she poops and immediately falls. She has no evidence of bumblefoot. She has been having normal poops (which have been a little watery since i started hydrating her). She has a soft belly. She has no palpable crop. She will take fluid when I brush it on her beak but will not eat food (including mealworms). I've been moving her legs every once and a while and that doesn't seem to cause pain and there does not appear to be any swelling or redness... she does seem to extend her right foot out though and does not move the left one as much. I'm not sure if she will make it but I've been trying to do what I can. All of the other chicks are quite vigorous and she was with them until this morning. It was hot earlier this week - so I suppose it could also be related to the heat. Right now I'm treating her for dehydration and it seems it has helped a little so far - although it seems to be a very slow improvement. Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[JenB24]

Update: she is more alert (normal) when awake (although still sleeping a bit), ate some chick starter last night and appears to be able to hold her head up today. She is still unable to stand and ends up on her left side. When I lift her up, she refuses to put weight on her left leg (although she can move her left leg) and will list to the left side. She is more active when I hold her on her back. I still do not see any deformity, redness or swelling of her leg. I was thinking that maybe she had very slightly twisted it, but that is all I can come up with - any other ideas for a diagnosis?

 

[dawg53]

Try giving her a few drops of liquid vitamin B complex on the side of her beak to drink, use an eyedropper. Give it to her at least twice a day for 5 days. Hopefully there will be improvement. If you cant find liquid vitamin B complex at a pharmacy, use liquid vitamin B.

 

[JenB24]

Thanks! I will pick up some today! She is definitely trying to move more...

 

[flynn]

I had 27 chicks delivered from McMurray July 1 and today I have a chick doing the exact same thing you are describing here. All of the chicks are vigorous and active, alert flying jumping, I was beginning to believe it injured itself. Does anyone know if it is an illness and if so is it contagious? or is this how chickens act when they get banged up?
I see some of them slam into some things miss their mark and they tend to the injury and shake it off but you can tell it got hurt then the next thing they are running around again.
thanks
fay

 

[Sylvestor12]

Perhaps a sprain? Maybe a bit cold if it's sleeping alot, not eating much, and staying under the heat lamp. Glad she's getting better, maybe you could name her after her great recovery.

 

[JenB24]

Later that day, she was like a new bird (before she had the B vitamins). So, I gave her a couple of doses of B vitamins and just kept up with the vitamin and electrolyte solution. I only separated her for a day or two as she was going to hurt herself trying to get out of the box I put her in and would scream because she was by herself.

Over that week, she gradually started being able to walk, but still was holding her head pretty low. She ended up with some foamy poop. So, I figured that she may have early sour crop, which may have been exacerbated by her head position most of the time. So, I massaged her crop for a few minutes a couple of times a day for a few days and she started really improving faster and now is almost to the point where you wouldn't know anything was wrong with her. She had some balance problems for a while and occasionally gets knocked over - but is much better, flies well, runs around and competes with the other bigger birds for treats. I have another chick with what seems like sour crop right now - she has been a bit quiet and today she smelled a bit like vomit. I took her out and massaged her crop and fed her vitamin and electrolyte solution and she seemed much better - will do it for a few days. I guess I just need to keep a good eye on them all and try to identify issues early...
Thanks everyone for your help!

 

[Jml387]

Hello, I have a chick doing a very similar thing. I purchased 7 chicks that were all vaccinated and everyone was doing great until this morning. One of my chick's is not eating or drinking and just sleeping in the heater non-stop. She does move if scared or prodded by the other chickens but I don't understand why she was fine yesterday and so lethargic today. She has always been smaller than the others but growing, just at a slower rate.