8 week old Orpington was put outside for the first time yesterday, this morning she is laying on her

[D046113]

Ok so I put our 2 newest chicks outside yesterday in a corner cage so they have more room but are still protected from the other full grown chickens and anything else flying by. Last night I saw them both sleeping together like normal.

This morning she is laying on her side and not able to stand… Any ideas? What could have happened so fast? Is there anything we can do to save her? My wife is just furious with me because she thought they were still too young to go outside… I’m in trouble now so any help would be much appreciated.

 

[DStewart PDX]

I think she's definitely got enough feathers to be outside.Have you inspected her legs? Does she have any wounds or fractures?

 

[D046113]

Nothing visible and she doesn't appear to be in pain... We are going to try some poultry electrolyte/vitamin packs and see if maybe the heat was just too much for her?

 

[DStewart PDX]

Maybe someone with more experience will chime in on this thread. Hope she recovers!

 

[chooks4life]

My best bet would be injury, but possibly Marek's if not. There are a few diseases which cause lameness. If it's Marek's, which I'm not sure of, then something that's worked for a few people recently is homeopathic Hypericum Perforatum (St John's Wort). Being vaccinated for Marek's doesn't guarantee they won't get it.

She's not too young to be outside; I raise mine freeranging and they are outside from the moment their mother (or even the chicks themselves) decide it's time to freerange. Since yours most likely never knew her mother she obviously needed a different heat source but once she's got her feathers on, she's fine... In fact any time during their younger ages, if you'd made free-ranging available to them while ensuring access to the heater whenever they needed to would most likely have been fine.

It could be heat stroke, if she's never been able to stand in the sun before and has no sense about it. It's also possible that it could be toxicity from eating something inedible or poisonous but it doesn't really look like it.

Anyway, best wishes.

 

[D046113]

Thanks for the info, I'm starting to think it is heat related, we have been taking them outside for the last 6 weeks for anywhere from an hour to 6 hours at a time, hoping to get them adapted to the heat at least a little bit, that and get them and our other hen use to seeing each other...

She has a black eye now as well and is keeping it shut...


We brought her back into the house and after a few hours she is standing again and I was able to see her drinking some water that has poultry electrolytes, vitamin and probiotics mixed in so I guess we will wait and see... Might have to wait a few more weeks to get some cooler weather and then let them out again...

I'll need to get a new brooder for them they are about out of room in the one I have now...

 

[chooks4life]

Hope she recovers. That black eye though might need tending. Is the blackness an injury on the outside or due to injury under the lid? If she got dirt under the lid while on her side, she could lose the eye if it's not cleaned out with saline solution or similar.