8 week old chick not walking after being injured

[crescent]

I have an 8 week old pullet who was injured on Thursday, a week ago today. I woke up and checked on the 6 babies and she had blood on the side of her head. I cleaned it and put antibiotic ointment on it. She was still walking at the time. The wound got progressively worse throughout the day and I kept cleaning it for a couple days until it was completely scabbed over. It's no longer swollen, but still scabbed. She completely stopped walking on day 2 and seemed to have no will to live. I fed her water through a syringe and on day 3 I started mixing her starter feed with it. Her toes are curled and she does not stretch them out. I researched it and found that B12 could help. On Monday night I went and got liquid B12 and started giving that through the syringe. On Tuesday morning she would no longer let me feed her through the syringe, so she drank the B12 from the bottle cap and was now eating her dry food and water with me holding it in a cup. She's more alert today and moving around more, but still not standing on her own. She has 1 foot that is still curled up and the other she does stretch out. Is there anything else I can do? Will the other foot eventually stretch out or is there no hope?

 

[Eggcessive]

It is B2 or riboflavin that can help with curled under toes. B12 has only B12, but if you get some B comp,ex tablets, they have riboflavin and all of the B’s. Give 1/2 tablet daily crushed into food. Riboflavin is found in some foods and nutritional yeast.

Do you think that she might have been hurt because she suddenly was showing signs of lameness or illness? At 8 weeks, a chicken could possibly show signs of Mareks disease. It can cause curled under toes, lameness, and the position with one leg forward/one leg backward. I really hope that she just has a head injury, and not Mareks. Was she vaccinated for Mareks?

 

[Eggcessive]

Here are some articles about Mareks disease:
https://extension.psu.edu/mareks-disease-in-chickens

https://extension.umd.edu/sites/ext...Preventing Mareks Disease in Small Flocks.pdf

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

 

[crescent]

It is B2 or riboflavin that can help with curled under toes. B12 has only B12, but if you get some B comp,ex tablets, they have riboflavin and all of the B’s. Give 1/2 tablet daily crushed into food. Riboflavin is found in some foods and nutritional yeast.

Do you think that she might have been hurt because she suddenly was showing signs of lameness or illness? At 8 weeks, a chicken could possibly show signs of Mareks disease. It can cause curled under toes, lameness, and the position with one leg forward/one leg backward. I really hope that she just has a head injury, and not Mareks. Was she vaccinated for Mareks?

It is B2 or riboflavin that can help with curled under toes. B12 has only B12, but if you get some B comp,ex tablets, they have riboflavin and all of the B’s. Give 1/2 tablet daily crushed into food. Riboflavin is found in some foods and nutritional yeast.

Do you think that she might have been hurt because she suddenly was showing signs of lameness or illness? At 8 weeks, a chicken could possibly show signs of Mareks disease. It can cause curled under toes, lameness, and the position with one leg forward/one leg backward. I really hope that she just has a head injury, and not Mareks. Was she vaccinated for Mareks?

Thank you! My eyes must have been playing tricks on me. I was reading B2 as B12. The store was out of b2 and b complex in the tablets so I got the liquid complex.
She showed no signs of limping or illness before the injury. I watch all them throughout the day and none of the other chicks were singling her or any others out. They've all been together from 2 days old.

 

[Carson213]

how did she get injured?

 

[Eggcessive]

I hope that she recovers. Unfortunately, chickens can suddenly become lame or imbalanced, and that alarms others in the flock that something is wrong, and they can attack the sick chickens. I have seen this over and over when I have had a chicken close to death. I hope that it is not Mareks,,but it can happen at that age. I would give her supportive care and vitamins. Help her eat and drink. Let us know how she gets along.

 

[crescent]

Update: she started walking and is getting stronger every day. She even went to her flock that she's been separated from and laid down beside them.

 

[SulkyBantam]

I'm glad for you!
I also have one that limps but has not to my knowledge been injured in the past. I have no idea what is up with her, but she is getting better so, all good really!
Fingers crossed yours recovers well!