3 Week Old Chick Laying on Side and Not Walking Around Much

[simplesanctuary]

Hello! I am new to raising chicks and have a question regarding one of our chicks. I have a 3 week (almost 4 week) old chick that we noticed yesterday was not walking around as much as the rest of the flock. She is eating and drinking but not moving around very much and when she rests, she is laying on her side with her feet out... it looks so strange.

We "quarantined" her in a section of the brooder box (shorter piece of plywood that divides a smaller area for her to get some rest and not be picked on) but she can still hear the others and occasionally one of the other chicks will come hop over and visit her.

I mainly want to make sure she is not ill. I picked her up and looked at her entire body and aside from her feather coming in and looking a little awkward, she doesn't appear injured. She let me put weight on her feet and seemed to have feeling in her legs. She does walk around, but not that very much and doesn't run away like the other chicks do when I try to pick her up. Could she just have a sprain or something, or is it something else?

I appreciate any and all help.

Thanks so much!

 

[NicoleD]

When we first got chickens we thought one had sprained something as well, maybe from falling off a perch, and we tried to take care of her by helping her stand and providing food and water but unfortunately she passed a couple of weeks after we noticed something was wrong. Just be sure to keep your chick with the others so they don't insure the pecking order. I really hope she gets better, good luck!

 

[TNchickies]

She should be okay as long as she is eating/ drinking normally. Some of my chicks do this as well when they are resting, and some of the younger/less developed chicks aren't very active either. I would just keep an eye on her to make sure she's doing well. As long as the others aren't hurting her, i would keep her with the rest (unless it hinders her food/ water intake). Good luck!

 

[simplesanctuary]

Thanks for your response! She seems to be doing gradually better over the past few days. I'll keep everyone updated and keep an eye on her.

 

[simplesanctuary]

Thanks very much for your response!
She seems to be regaining her strength. She is still laying on her side sometimes (mainly when the heat lamp is on) and is getting up and walking around way more than she has been, still hobbling a bit. Her appetite (and water drinking) seems to be up/back to normal. As I mentioned the other chickens are visiting her every few minutes and seem to be treating her well. We mainly want to keep her seperated so she can get easy access to food and water. I'll keep an eye on her and post more updates as she progresses.

 

[TNchickies]

Awesome. Glad that she is doing okay

 

[simplesanctuary]

The chick is no longer laying on her side and is moving around pretty well (still getting off balance/hobbling a bit) and even started to flap her wings again as she sees the other chicks "flying" around. She is still eating and drinking just fine so I'm happy about that. I've been giving her a probiotic+electrolyte packet in her water and I think that is helping her a lot. Hopefully she is on the mend.

 

[House of chic]

I have a chick that is doing the same thing. Did yours ever get better? Trying to decide if I should separate her from the others but not that easy to do.