7 week old chicks can't walk. Fall over often

[westwalesdave]

I have a mix of different breads of chicks. 6 in fact but 3 of them are falling over, they are eating pellets, corn and lettuce but the keep falling over and have done so for over a week. Any ideas what is wrong and what I can do? Thank you

 

[Chicks and Hens]

Are all 6 of them falling? Maybe ONLY feed starter chick for a while

 

[westwalesdave]

No 3 off them are falling over and are inside. The other 3 are outside and are fine.

 

[Eggcessive]

They may have a problem with your food. Chicks should be on 18-20 % crumbles only with just an occasional treat of something else. Corm has 8% and pellets (layer) only has 16%, unless you are using pellets that are higher protein. I think they are too young for pellets myself. Of course, you may be seeing the beginning of Mareks Disease since it can strike on average between 3-6 weeks. I would up there feed to 20%, and I would put vitamins including Vitamin E in there food or water right away.

 

[westwalesdave]

Yeh there on chick crumbs now! But the problem seems to be with their legs, there cold and can't grasp anything. There is no movement at all.

 

[Eggcessive]

I keep PolyViSol baby vitamins in my chicken first aid kit for treating a variety of things, although I haven't needed it yet. A lot of leg and foot problems will clear up with thiamine, but Vitamin E seems to be real important, too. You can squirt a capsule into their feed pretty easily.