5 day old chicken limping, pooping clear and now dropping wing

[Basia St Clair]

I have a 7 day old baby chick with the following happening:
1) at 5 days she started to limp and hold her foot up, upon inspection I saw no issues, she was eating, drinking and pooping but walking slowly
2) at 6 days she seemed lethargic, limped in the morning but as the day progressed seemed to be ok
3) at 7 days, today, she was extremely lethargic.
4) Chicks are eating fermented mile four chick started feed, they have vitamin water, they were ordered from Meyer Hatchery and shipped live on 1/3 and arrived on 1/5
5) all the other chicks are active and seem fine

I isolated her, provided her egg white, vitamin water, molasses. She perked up, was and is chirping very loudly if annoyed, She popped clear at first but the second poop, though very small, was a mix of water, and "normal" poop with a white cap.

I put her back in the brooder and now her she is holding her foot up again and on the opposite side her wing is dropping slightly. She also does not lay down at all. Just stand there even when sleeping, kinda wobbling. This has been observed both in isolation and in brooder over last few days

Could this be Marek's at this early age? The birds are not vaccinated for Marek's. Any ideas on treatment?

I will try to post pictures soon.

 

[Eggcessive]

Mareks does not become symptomatic until at least 5 weeks, and usually much later. It sounds like she may have some lameness, and she could be dehydrated or failing to thrive. Shipping stress or an injury might be the problem. Do you have a picture of her legs while standing? Does she have any sore on her hock or does it sound like a slipped tendon? I would get her drinking some vitamin water with electrolytes, such as SavAChick or Poultry NutriDrench 1 ml right away. Leg injuries, slipped tendons, splay leg, and leg bone deformities are common issues in chicks.

 

[Eggcessive]

Chicken sling chairs are good for lame chicks to eat and drink, and get them upright. Here is a link with many designs:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/versions-of-chick-chairs-please.1166308/

 

[Basia St Clair]

Mareks does not become symptomatic until at least 5 weeks, and usually much later. It sounds like she may have some lameness, and she could be dehydrated or failing to thrive. Shipping stress or an injury might be the problem. Do you have a picture of her legs while standing? Does she have any sore on her hock or does it sound like a slipped tendon? I would get her drinking some vitamin water with electrolytes, such as SavAChick or Poultry NutriDrench 1 ml right away. Leg injuries, slipped tendons, splay leg, and leg bone deformities are common issues in chicks.

Thanks so much for the reply. Meant to say she is a barred rock.

I am going to get pictures and post in about 5 minutes. I do not see any sores anywhere, nothing stuck to the bottom of her feet, nothing looks swollen, When i went to check after I put her back in the brooder, to my surprise, she was eating. She did not drink, but I gave her vitamin water when she was in isolation. When I went out again to check on her she is just standing there, sorta wobbling. She walks "tentatively" and very slowly.

 

[Basia St Clair]

Pictures. She is just standing there. I have a video but not sure how to insert it

 

[Basia St Clair]

And the very very weird thing is, she does not lay down. She just stands there

 

[Basia St Clair]

UPDATE: Feathers is no longer limping as much, but she is just standing there, wobbling. Occasionally she runs over to food and eats, she does poop a little, and it looking more normal, but she is so lethargic. I've been giving her Poultry Nutri-Drench . She is super easy to catch because she just stands there. She is also so much smaller than the other birds that all came on the same day.

I dont want to give up. Plan is to provide her Nutri-Drench throughout the day. Should i be doing anything else?

 

[Eggcessive]

Offer some wet chick feed and a little raw egg. Does either leg turn in or outward at the hock or knee? I would try to get as much food and water into her as possible. I like to sprinkle chick crumbles on paper towel and tap it, in order to get them to walk around and peck it. Hopefully, she will make it. Her problems getting around are probably why is she smaller. I just remembered that Nutridrench does not contain vitamin /
B2 riboflavin, so I would get some human B complex tablets and crush 1/4 tablet daily into a spoonful of water and give that to her. Poultry Cell does have riboflavin and is otherwise identical to Nutridrench. Riboflavin can help in leg issues.

 

[Basia St Clair]

Offer some wet chick feed and a little raw egg. Does either leg turn in or outward at the hock or knee? I would try to get as much food and water into her as possible. I like to sprinkle chick crumbles on paper towel and tap it, in order to get them to walk around and peck it. Hopefully, she will make it. Her problems getting around are probably why is she smaller. I just remembered that Nutridrench does not contain vitamin /
B2 riboflavin, so I would get some human B complex tablets and crush 1/4 tablet daily into a spoonful of water and give that to her. Poultry Cell does have riboflavin and is otherwise identical to Nutridrench. Riboflavin can help in leg issues.

I have not noticed one leg in or outward. They look normal to me. I've look 100 times
Starting to feed her about every 1/2 hour. When i feed her water she drinks it, but when I put her back in the brooder she just stands there again. I have some durvet Vitamins and electrolytes for poultry and it contains riboflavin so I will try that as well. Thanks

 

[Basia St Clair]

OH NO. Another issue i just noticed. I dont know if its been this way since the beginning or not. I've been so focused on her legs. It appears she is not opening her right eye anymore. I cant swear if it was this way from the start or not. I think i would have noticed, so my guess is this has just started. So first favoring her right leg, and now that that's cleared up she is no longer opening her right eye (i really think she was before but cant swear 100%)

Does this help any of the experts out there on what might be going going on? Maybe a brooder injury? Any suggestions on what to do ?