2 week old Standard Brahma with Lameness/Balance issues

[boxerpupmom1127]

Hi All!

We just got our girls 2 weeks ago from a breeder and over the past week I've noticed our light standard brahma has started to have balance issues. All our girls are different breeds with the same hatch date and were kept together. None of the others exhibit any of her symptoms. She loses balance easily when the others touch her. She prefers to squat or lay in the brooder. She does eat, drink, poop and seems to be interested in scratching if the others are doing it but if she stands still she is very wobbly. She also appears to not extend her legs up to a full standing position. We inspected her today and can't see any visible injury to her legs and there is no known trauma she may have experienced. She doesn't appear to be in pain. They are all on medicated feed and have been vaccinated for Mareks. We have no idea what to do for her. Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[Eggcessive]

I'm glad to hear she is a little better. It is good that she was vaccinated for Mareks. Sometimes vaccines do fail--some say as much as 10% of the time with Mareks. Also, if someone has had Mareks in their flock, then vaccinates chicks, those chicks must be kept isolated from any contaminated area for 1-2 weeks while developing immunity. I am so hoping it is just a vitamin issue--they are pretty common in chicks.

 

[Eggcessive]

I had to go check out the nutritional yeast because I had not heard of it--interesting. I'm going to have to try some and make some popcorn to put it on. Here is an article comparing the two (you may have already seen this.) http://www.milkandhoneyhealthfoods.com/brewers-yeast-versus-nutritional-yeast

 

[redstar14]

Sorry cant help but my post will make you most recent on new post list

 

[IrishAcreFarm]

Hi All!

We just got our girls 2 weeks ago from a breeder and over the past week I've noticed our light standard brahma has started to have balance issues.  All our girls are different breeds with the same hatch date and were kept together.  None of the others exhibit any of her symptoms.  She loses balance easily when the others touch her.  She prefers to squat or lay in the brooder.  She does eat, drink, poop and seems to be interested in scratching if the others are doing it but if she stands still she is very wobbly.  She also appears to not extend her legs up to a full standing position.  We inspected her today and can't see any visible injury to her legs and there is no known trauma she may have experienced.  She doesn't appear to be in pain.  They are all on medicated feed and have been vaccinated for Mareks.  We have no idea what to do for her.  Any help is greatly appreciated!

I had a chick a few weeks ago who also was a little imbalanced. Never really sure why. Another BYC member suggested vitamins to help in case it was a deficiency, and it helped!! We also seperated her for a few days. Hope this helps your little one! I used save-a-chick vitamin. The only thing is, is that vitamin supplements may make them more prone to coccidia, so keep things nice and clean for the short time she is on it. If she worsens, stop the vitamins immediatly, and check back in.

 

[boxerpupmom1127]

Thank you IrishAcreFarm! Would her susceptibility to cocci be lessened because she is on medicated food? We keep our brooder very clean but just wondering for peace of mind. I will pick up save-a-chick tomorrow.

 

[IrishAcreFarm]

You are very welcome! This was the advice I got, and it was so helpful!! I think you should be ok with the vitamins, mine were. The problem with vitamins is that it conteracts the medicated feeds, so if your chickies are outside where there could be cocci, they wouldnt be as well protected. I decided to take the risk since my babies were still in a nice clean brooder, and I had no problems

 

[Wyandottes7]

I might add that, to the best of my knowledge, Save-a-Chick is mainly electrolytes, not vitamins. I do know that it has some vitamins in it, but its main purpose is an electrolyte. So, the Coccidiosis risk is not increased that much.

I have never had a problem with Coccidiosis, and I have used Save-a-Chick for all of my chicks, until they were eight weeks old or older. I second the fact, though, that the benefits of medicated feed are negated by too many vitamins. Still, I would not expect any problems when using vitamins.

Personally, I'd get some polyvisol infant vitamins without iron. These vitamins are more concentrated, and would give your chicken more immediate relief if she has a vitamin deficiency. Give 1-2 drops per day, and this should help.

 

[boxerpupmom1127]

I might add that, to the best of my knowledge, Save-a-Chick is mainly electrolytes, not vitamins. I do know that it has some vitamins in it, but its main purpose is an electrolyte. So, the Coccidiosis risk is not increased that much.

I have never had a problem with Coccidiosis, and I have used Save-a-Chick for all of my chicks, until they were eight weeks old or older. I second the fact, though, that the benefits of medicated feed are negated by too many vitamins. Still, I would not expect any problems when using vitamins.

Personally, I'd get some polyvisol infant vitamins without iron. These vitamins are more concentrated, and would give your chicken more immediate relief if she has a vitamin deficiency. Give 1-2 drops per day, and this should help.

Do I administer the polyvisol directly in her mouth or as an additive to water? I remember buying this at WalMart for my children when they were infants so I'll check there. It would be good to have on hand in any event.

 

[Eggcessive]

Do I administer the polyvisol directly in her mouth or as an additive to water? I remember buying this at WalMart for my children when they were infants so I'll check there. It would be good to have on hand in any event.

Yes you can give it directly by mouth or in food or yogurt.