8 week old chick with bad leg attacked by others

[DoubleBoop]

My girlfriend has 10 8 week old chicks and one of them has had trouble walking but she hasn't been able to get a good picture to me of it's leg and I haven't been able to look at it. Today it was attacked by the others and had it's head pecked pretty bad. How should she treat it's head, and what can she do for it's leg? Does anybody recognize what's wrong with it's leg? It has a lot of trouble walking and uses it's wing to help balance. She's worried that she may need to cull it but if possible I'd like to save it. She just now informed me that it never opens it's foot when standing. I'll update as she takes more pictures.

Update: It's had trouble walking for a couple weeks. Before then it was fine.

 

[6sablehens]

It could have spradle leg but I’m not 100% sure...
The head will need some sort of antibiotic, vetricyn and betadine are suitable.
Make sure it does not go anywhere near the other chicks, keep it separated from them.

Poor thing, hope it gets better soon!

 

[6sablehens]

Very gently clean the wound with warm water before applying an antibiotic. You could try wrapping the leg in a certain position so stands correctly, but I do not have any experience with this.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi, hope you are enjoying BYC!

Sounds like it might be Marek's if you can't identify a wound on the leg.

They may well have killed that chick and very well would have done so in the wild.

If I thought it was Marek's I would cull. However, sometimes a vitamin deficiency could cause similar symptoms. Here is one link that is Marek's info overload...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

Yes, a bird can easily recover from a wound like that but being caused by your own flock... eek. I don't know if it will integrate again well.

Good luck!

 

[DoubleBoop]

I don't think it's Mareks. The only symptom of Mareks she has is that she doesn't put weight on the one leg. The tendon appears to be in the right place. She acts totally healthy other than the leg. What could we do about vitamins and helping that leg get stronger? She can move it but she can't put a lot of weight on it.

 

[DoubleBoop]

After a little asprin and sugar water she is eating a ton, which makes me think it is a vitamin deficiency. She's been eating and is able to move the leg a little more. After about 30 minutes of gorging on mealworms she stood for a couple seconds on her own! I'm almost certain it's a vitamin deficiency.

 

[DoubleBoop]

The chick is looking pretty rough this morning and acting like she's in pain. Not eating again. Going to try more advil and more sugar water. That perked her up last night.

 

[DoubleBoop]

Well, she can't walk forwards, but she just ran backwards across the living room.. lol

 

[microchick]

Hi @DoubleBoop. So sorry you are having to deal with this poor little sick baby.

I would try poly vi sol infant vitamins without iron. If she doesn't come around after a drop or two of the vitamins then I would highly suspect Marek's disease.

One of the hallmark symptoms in young birds (Marek's can present itself at 8-10 weeks of age in young birds) is the distinctive stretching out of a leg either directly in front of the bird or behind them.

I had a 9 week old OEGB chick do the very same thing with the paralysis progressing slowly over a matter of days. By day 7 she was getting attacked by the other birds and I was forced to cull her.

There are instances where the bird will spontaneously pop out of the paralysis but they will succumb to the disease at a later date. Many times the other leg will also become paralyzed.

Yes, I have Marek's in my flock and yes, it is heartbreaking. I sincerely hope that your girlfriend's baby has just a vitamin deficiency but it looks suspicious to me, sorry.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

After a little asprin and sugar water she is eating a ton, which makes me think it is a vitamin deficiency. She's been eating and is able to move the leg a little more. After about 30 minutes of gorging on mealworms she stood for a couple seconds on her own! I'm almost certain it's a vitamin deficiency.

Well, I hope you are right. Truth is I had Marek's and the ONLY symptom we had was the leg. I supported with vitamins because I to HOPED it was just a deficiency. The bird ate veraciously! Did not appear to be in pain. Some people are able to help their bird return to full function with vitamin support and a sling to keep the bird elevated where they can put some weight when they desire. It usually takes weeks to months for that to happen. I saved that bird. It seemed like it would make a recovery, aside from the paralysis. But after 2 weeks of caring for a crippled bird, I decided to cull even though the bird was clearly living. That wasn't quality of life for the 9 (now 11) week old chick or myself. It was one of my emotionally hardest culls ever. Two weeks later, ANOTHER chick started limping. No fooling around! I provide good nutrition and I don't diminish it with treats. I breed my birds and expect healthy and strong quality. If a bird IS suffering nutrient deficiency and I can clearly see it isn't being bullied and kept away from food, then that bird has issues and I don't want it bred forward. Yes I keep them as both pets and livestock. With Mareks being spread by dander and such I do NOT invite it to live among my flock. I culled that second chick on day 2 of limping without sign of in jury. It seems like a hard core farmer mentality and it took me along time to get where I can make hard decisions without second guessing or beating myself up. At this point the good of the entire flock is at stake compared to one bird. It isn't a fun choice but it's the right choice (for me), and the lesser of the evils.

Guess what, as heartbreaking as Marek's is... it can even be in NPIP flocks and is NOT part of their testing. Nor are they required to report it or tell you. It is a false sense of security for some, but still does test for really important thing like AI, salmonella, and others.

In one post you say you are using aspirin, but the other says advil. Aspirin is useful, advil not so much... is my current understanding.

By the time you can tell a chicken is in pain it is often much worse than you realize. They are prey animals and as such will HIDE anything as long as they possibly can. Otherwise they become an easy target and yes other birds in the flock will notice and take advantage as a mean of elevating their position in the pecking order. Or even peck to death maybe even cannibalize as a means of keeping disease away and the flock strong. Nature is brutal. Although I do understand the idea that the relief created by the med might create enough relief to eat as you note. And eating does seem to help give the energy to recover... in the medical profession, they very often will not administer any pain meds until they can determine the cause of the pain, Otherwise you are just masking symptoms and making it harder to find the root source. Note that even if you bird does recover doesn't mean it wasn't Marek's. Many have had success with specific vitamin concoctions that include lots of C, and ??, I wish I could remember but I will post later if I find it. Maybe the bird is a survivor! If it does survive you may have no way of knowing which it was until another bird presents with it. Which could happen within a couple weeks or not for years.

Please understand that in no way do I intend to be discouraging or fear mongering. I am only sharing information that is from my experience for informational purposes and each case WILL be different.

With having eaten that many meal worms, I would expect some really nasty poo. But also suggest you have some sort of grit available to help with digestion.

Hoping for a strong recovery for your chick!