Hi all! Really thankful for this community.
I have a 3.5 week old olive egger that arrived via shipping with 14 other chicks. The rest are doing awesome, but one little guy (getting a boy vibe) started acting lethargic around 2 weeks old. He’s always been a total loner and would mostly stand in the corner by himself (rarely walked or foraged like the others). He quickly became my favorite because I would find him staring at me often while the others were occupied. As soon as I noticed this happening, I made sure the Save-a-Chick electrolytes and probiotics were always within his reach and thought maybe he wasn’t getting enough vitamins. This Save-a-Chick combo has been in the brooder along with fresh water since day one. He’s also last in the pecking order so I suspected there could be a bully preventing him from getting all the nutrition he needed. This didn’t make a lot of sense though because he was the biggest in the bunch and actually seemed to be growing as fast as the others. I also saw him eat and drink frequently.
A little bit of background:
The flock came from a small breeder in Texas who doesn’t vaccinate, which I’m totally ok with. I had them in a large Tupperware container for the first two weeks with sticky shelf liner. By the 2.5 week mark, I moved them to a 4x4’ wooden box that my husband built and added pine shavings that I clean out completely every 4 days. The brooder sits in our breezeway where the room is at around 70 degrees at night and 80 during the day. I had two Brinsea heat plates in the brooder for the first week/two weeks and kept it on when the temp dropped too low at night. They are always scurried around the brooder so I don’t think heat is an issue (some are under heat, some are out, etc). They are only going to be this brooder for another 3-4 days until their coop is ready outside. I’ve also chosen to provide non-medicated, non-GMO feed and started sprinkling home grown nettle and dill in their feeders at around 2 weeks. I offer grit free of choice. They got their first clump of grass at 2 weeks also. I started them on Manna Pro organic chick starter, but recently switched to Nutrena organic non-gmo chick starter/grower feed. I think this is around the time I started to notice more of an issue with the olive egger, but wondering if it could be a condition that manifests at 2 weeks? I’ve read the Chicken Health Handbook, researched every condition I can find, and have been looking into different vitamin and mineral deficiencies in chicks. I’ve poured over this forum looking for a similar condition but keep coming up short.
To give everyone an idea of how this has progressed, I’ve provided:
He’s still in a separate brooder until I can figure out his condition (it’s only been 24 hours) but he has greatly improved overnight with the addition of sea kelp, garlic, and brewer’s yeast sprinkled on his starter feed. Side note: his poop has been normal since I got him. I also added Rooster Booster vitamins and electrolytes with lacto bacillus to his water because I’m thinking, with the improvement, this could be a nutritional deficiency (thiamine, B2?). I’ve been massaging his legs and he seems to like it when I stretch them back (nothing happened when I stretched so I don’t know if it’s a slipped disk). That being said, I don’t want to risk focusing only on the nutritional aspects in case he needs his legs wrapped or has a genetic condition that will cause pain for the rest of his life. I fashioned him a chick chair last night just in case he needs to be chair-bound, but I don’t think anything is broken because he can stand sometimes.
Has anyone ever experienced or seen this sort of condition? Just hoping it’s something that can improve with a more targeted diet or physical therapy.
Thanks!
I have a 3.5 week old olive egger that arrived via shipping with 14 other chicks. The rest are doing awesome, but one little guy (getting a boy vibe) started acting lethargic around 2 weeks old. He’s always been a total loner and would mostly stand in the corner by himself (rarely walked or foraged like the others). He quickly became my favorite because I would find him staring at me often while the others were occupied. As soon as I noticed this happening, I made sure the Save-a-Chick electrolytes and probiotics were always within his reach and thought maybe he wasn’t getting enough vitamins. This Save-a-Chick combo has been in the brooder along with fresh water since day one. He’s also last in the pecking order so I suspected there could be a bully preventing him from getting all the nutrition he needed. This didn’t make a lot of sense though because he was the biggest in the bunch and actually seemed to be growing as fast as the others. I also saw him eat and drink frequently.
A little bit of background:
The flock came from a small breeder in Texas who doesn’t vaccinate, which I’m totally ok with. I had them in a large Tupperware container for the first two weeks with sticky shelf liner. By the 2.5 week mark, I moved them to a 4x4’ wooden box that my husband built and added pine shavings that I clean out completely every 4 days. The brooder sits in our breezeway where the room is at around 70 degrees at night and 80 during the day. I had two Brinsea heat plates in the brooder for the first week/two weeks and kept it on when the temp dropped too low at night. They are always scurried around the brooder so I don’t think heat is an issue (some are under heat, some are out, etc). They are only going to be this brooder for another 3-4 days until their coop is ready outside. I’ve also chosen to provide non-medicated, non-GMO feed and started sprinkling home grown nettle and dill in their feeders at around 2 weeks. I offer grit free of choice. They got their first clump of grass at 2 weeks also. I started them on Manna Pro organic chick starter, but recently switched to Nutrena organic non-gmo chick starter/grower feed. I think this is around the time I started to notice more of an issue with the olive egger, but wondering if it could be a condition that manifests at 2 weeks? I’ve read the Chicken Health Handbook, researched every condition I can find, and have been looking into different vitamin and mineral deficiencies in chicks. I’ve poured over this forum looking for a similar condition but keep coming up short.
To give everyone an idea of how this has progressed, I’ve provided:
- Video of him at 2.5 weeks (lethargy)
- Video at 3 weeks (lack of coordination, trouble walking, walks on his hocks, uses wings to move)
- Video from yesterday at 3.5 weeks showing close up of leg movements (in separate brooder, walking was a challenge)
- Video of him this morning (6 hours of quarantine after lots of vitamins, water, herbs, and fresh feed)
He’s still in a separate brooder until I can figure out his condition (it’s only been 24 hours) but he has greatly improved overnight with the addition of sea kelp, garlic, and brewer’s yeast sprinkled on his starter feed. Side note: his poop has been normal since I got him. I also added Rooster Booster vitamins and electrolytes with lacto bacillus to his water because I’m thinking, with the improvement, this could be a nutritional deficiency (thiamine, B2?). I’ve been massaging his legs and he seems to like it when I stretch them back (nothing happened when I stretched so I don’t know if it’s a slipped disk). That being said, I don’t want to risk focusing only on the nutritional aspects in case he needs his legs wrapped or has a genetic condition that will cause pain for the rest of his life. I fashioned him a chick chair last night just in case he needs to be chair-bound, but I don’t think anything is broken because he can stand sometimes.
Has anyone ever experienced or seen this sort of condition? Just hoping it’s something that can improve with a more targeted diet or physical therapy.
Thanks!
