4-5 week old chick can't stand up

[Birdsofafedder]

I'm new to chickens and we got 6 chicks from Tractor Supply about a month ago. don't know where they came from, so don't know any history. All are doing well, but one of them just today was acting weak and unable to stand when I went out to check them this morning. (oddly enough, I dreamed that one had died last night so I was anxious to get out there this morning) I watched her for a while and then isolated her with food and water and put antibiotic in the water.

Her legs seem to take turns being splayed out and she can't stand for longer than a second or two. Her eyes are fine, her breathing is fine, her skin seems fine. I saw a poop this morning and it was solid, no liquid. Right now, she is laying down with her left leg sticking straight out but otherwise is chirping and alert. Her back pouch seems big, but not any bigger than the other birds that are okay. At first ate a bit and drank a bit but haven't seen anything in the last half hour.

I've tried to look for these symptoms but have come up with nothing solid yet.

They seem pretty big for being 4-5 weeks and their legs are huge (almost normal bird size) and since I'm green as grass here, wonder if that's normal?

Has anyone had this type of experience or words of wisdom?

 

[Birdsofafedder]

As an update, I've got her outside now and she seems fine except that she "seems" intoxicated. My husband is holding her and he says her legs keep tightening up and stretching backwards in his hand, almost like a cramp. He rubs the thigh muscle and it loosens up.

Help?

 

[cristina33]

I had a peep do this but was like 15 weeks i gave her baby vitamins. I kept her in her own pen and 3 weeks later she is starting to do better.

 

[Birdsofafedder]

Thanks Cristina, we're still working on their permanent coop but today we plan to build something semi-perm because their brooder coop is just getting tooooo small. Not possible right now to separate her out, but other than seeming to be drunk or just weak, she's acting like a chicken. Snatched a few bugs out of the air, even.

 

[mclintoc]

I am actually having the exact same problem. My chick was fine till about 2 days ago. I have seperated her and she is eating fine and drinking. Poo is solid and seems normal except cant stand. I cant find any where on the web how to fix her. I guess give her a few days and if nothing happens put an end to it. I hate that but what to do?

 

[Birdsofafedder]

Just last weekend my husband had to do the deed.

She was getting worse, her left side leg didn't work at all and she didn't get around much without a lot of flapping and hopping. She ate pretty well and her poop was fine, she was just pretty much useless. We had to pick her up to put her in the coop and then take her out next morning and she stayed alone all day because the other chicks wandered off without her. When they were all together, they would walk all over her. When i held her up, breast in my hand and legs dangling, it was very obvious her leg was deformed. It didn't hang right. When her leg would stretch out her toes would open, but when her legs were drawn up her toes would curl so i'm wondering if maybe she fell off the roost and hit her head or hurt her back. She was the most mature one and was the one always hopping up on things so it's possible.

Good luck with your birds. My other 5 are fine, but we wound up with 3 females and 2 males left.

 

[Laurie's Silkies]

You say they seem pretty big for 4-5 weeks, that their legs are huge and some are starting to splay? That sounds like Cornish cross Broilers !! Any chance that you bought Broilers? The employees at Tractor supply would not know the difference between a Leghorn or a Broiler. What is the protein level of the feed they are on?

 

[Birdsofafedder]

Wow. I did a google search on the cornish cross and DANG! looks just like them! We thoght they were leghorns for sure. So does that mean thry are meat chickens? We really wanted them for eggs!

Is there some type of genetic thing that would cause the weak leg on one of my girls? We were just talking this weekend about how huge the legs on the males are. They are pretty large birds at only 6 weeks. Not sure of the protein level at the moment. We put the feed in buckets and discarded the bags. It was a bag of standard food from tractor supply. The sales person helping us said we could move to a regular grain and to that i added oyster shells and they are free range, running around our 1/4+ acre goat pen eating their fill of yummy grass and creepy crawlies under the hay.

What do you recommend in addition?

 

[Laurie's Silkies]

If they are Broilers, you are almost at the time they need to be butchered. Broilers are bred to eat a lot and gain lots of weight in a very short amount of time. As a result of that their legs go out on them (splay) and they will suffer heart attacks. They usually do not live much past 12 weeks as they are not engineered that way !! I think if you want a laying flock, you may need new chicks. mayby order some from a hatchery. Tractor Supply does get Broiler chicks in and heavy breed layers and sometimes leghorns, but they often are not labeled saying what breed they are. And sometimes a chick will get picked up by a kid and then not put back in the tank it came out of !! It is hard for even seasoned chicken people to tell the difference between a broiler and a leghorn when they're newly hatched !! I got 1 broiler by mistake in my chick order this spring. Looked like the other yellow chicks. but by 3 weeks of age it was huge and just layed by the feeder and ate and ate. didd'nt run around with the others, just programed to eat constantly. He went up the road to my neighbor who raises broilers every year. good luck to you !!!

 

[Birdsofafedder]

Thanks, Laurie. I'm incredibly disappointed right now! They really seem to have slowed down some in their growth since going on pasture and bugs, so maybe we'll wait it out. Desperately wanted some laying hens though. I guess if they start dropping dead we'll have our answer. Might just take away most of the food and let them eat just free range.

Thanks so much for your input, it's been a huge help.