AnneCanne
Hatching
- Jun 22, 2025
- 2
- 0
- 7
I have a 3 month old male orpington that I got a as a chick from Mt Healthy hatchery (along with 2 female orpingtons).
He seems XXL to me, especially compared to the buff orpington. His hatchmate that is also a laced is pretty jumbo sized too though, so maybe just jumbo genes.
What makes him seem off is all of a sudden (3 weeks ago) he started walking all wobbly, with tiny tremors in his legs. He doesn’t lose his balance or trip, but walks like a really old man whose legs are threatening to give out. I thought maybe vitamin deficiency so I gave him some rooster booster in water (he wouldn’t drink it), so I put some vitamin top dressing on food. I think he ate some of that, but zero improvement.
He’ll also lay down a lot - way more than the others his age, and seems like it’s bc he’s worn out- he will just plop down while the others are still excited about something. He still sleeps on the ground at night too.
He started trying to crow about 3 weeks ago, but yesterday started to just wheeze without any sound when he tried to crow. He’s not been excessive in his crowing practice. It has been windy- not sure if that could be the cause of his lost voice?
His feathers also look… loose. Like not dense and just fluffed up? Hard to explain but just doesn’t look right. Both him and the female laced orpington chick have this loose feather look.
His tail feathers are rounded over. The female laced orp has the same rounded tail feathers too. The other 2 that are same age (buff orp and lav austrolorp) do not have rounded tail feathers.
No other symptoms (him or others) - eating, pooping, interacting with other chickens, etc.
Is this normal? If not, what could I be looking at here?
He seems XXL to me, especially compared to the buff orpington. His hatchmate that is also a laced is pretty jumbo sized too though, so maybe just jumbo genes.
What makes him seem off is all of a sudden (3 weeks ago) he started walking all wobbly, with tiny tremors in his legs. He doesn’t lose his balance or trip, but walks like a really old man whose legs are threatening to give out. I thought maybe vitamin deficiency so I gave him some rooster booster in water (he wouldn’t drink it), so I put some vitamin top dressing on food. I think he ate some of that, but zero improvement.
He’ll also lay down a lot - way more than the others his age, and seems like it’s bc he’s worn out- he will just plop down while the others are still excited about something. He still sleeps on the ground at night too.
He started trying to crow about 3 weeks ago, but yesterday started to just wheeze without any sound when he tried to crow. He’s not been excessive in his crowing practice. It has been windy- not sure if that could be the cause of his lost voice?
His feathers also look… loose. Like not dense and just fluffed up? Hard to explain but just doesn’t look right. Both him and the female laced orpington chick have this loose feather look.
His tail feathers are rounded over. The female laced orp has the same rounded tail feathers too. The other 2 that are same age (buff orp and lav austrolorp) do not have rounded tail feathers.
No other symptoms (him or others) - eating, pooping, interacting with other chickens, etc.
Is this normal? If not, what could I be looking at here?
