ANOTHER 11 wk old "going" cripple

[thegreypony]

I don't exactly know how to best explaing this...

at 5ish wks old one of my australorps started sitting on her hocks all the time. eating, drinking, poop OK to I start giving her a vitamin supplement from TSC (looks like the poly vi sol). No change after a couple weeks. I just leave her be b/c I don't want to stress her anymore and she HATES med time. I continue w/vitamins in water for everyone so I know she's getting some.

This morning, my BR probable rooster is now walking drunk and then collapsing on his hocks. Doing the same thing she was/is but the drunk then collapse thing wasn't as dramatic b/c she was so little when she started doing it. He's bigger so it looks pretty crazy. They eat a commercial feed (TSC) and have vitamins in h2o, access to greens, grit, sand to bathe in, etc. NONE of the other chickens are behaving this way. The BR is very bright, alert and responsive...just showing weakness in his legs.

I'm convinced this must be deficiency so I go to drugstore this AM and get Poly Vi Sol. Didn't realize the no iron thing until I got back no the BB moments ago. Will definitely get some NO IRON this afternoon but I already gave them some with iron in it. Have I effectively treated the issue by killing them with the iron??

I've searched and searched the material I have (several books) and on the internet and all I can come up with on this is vitamin deficiency. PLEASE offer any advice you have....I'm new to this game and totally stumped. Don't want to lose any more chicks.

TIA

 

[LynneP]

Very important not to give the extra iron, sorry.

Have they been outdoors? If so, run or beyond?
What food are you using (there have been recalls of some starter products)?
Call the feed provider to check.

If you lose a bird, very important to have tested for Marek's.
http://www.addl.purdue.edu/newsletters/2005/Spring/mareks.htm

Call the provider of the birds and see if any have come up ill.
Any vets to consult nearby? Experienced owners?

And here is a comprehensive list of poultry ailments to assist in your search-

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PS044

 

[thegreypony]

I totally goofed on the iron thing...too many irons in the fire and didn't check behind by coming to the board. The more I learn about this chicken biz, the more I realize how very BASIC the books are.

I've contacted our state poultry people but my emails go unanswered; phone calls/voice mails not returned. Those I know in my farming community who keep chickens recommend just culling anything that appears to have the slightest shortcoming (I totally understand from a commercial point of view). But these birds are 4-H birds so investigation and treatment is simply another opp for our daughter to learn something. If culling is the answer, that's another lesson, too....

The breeder we bought the chicks from has not been reachable by phone and he doesn't have an answering machine. I thought I was a Luddite but he makes me look techno-savvy.

No vet for chickens. One place started laughing when I called and asked. My horse vet took a cursory look at them the other day and apologized for not knowing much about it. She thought vitamin deficiency, as well.

These guys are in a fairly hygenic 7x10 hen house on pine shavings; eating TSC grower. I throw in greens from the yard (we don't use any chemicals of any kind on anything). It's just so weird that NONE of the other chicks have had anything like this so I'm thinking it's got to be metabolic or deficiency. The chicks aren't related and the symptoms/condition occured about the same age actually b/c the BR roo is a couple weeks younger than the rest...BUT he has grown so much in the past 2 weeks that I wonder if this isn't something related to large variety growth rate (similar to large breed dogs and horses).

Thanks for the repsonse...will get the NO IRON poly vi sol this afternoon. Just sign me Feeling Like A JRT with a toy....can't let go of figuring this out!!

 

[LynneP]

Well TSC hasn't had any starter crumbles recalled, to my knowledge.

Maybe the dosage of vitamin needs to be increased. Might be worth a try when you get the no-added-iron solution.

A friend of mine here often speaks about the 'steep learning curve' with poultry- he is so right.

In fact I'll see if here's here now, and will enter the thread.

I'm am concerned about Marek's, do any of them show a one leg forward/one leg back stance?

I'm a fighter too, right to the moment when I know I'm, beat.

I'll be back.

 

[thegreypony]

Thanks so much for your help. No one is presenting with the textbook Marek's. Who knows, though...

All 9 of them are outside right now and the two crippled chickens will get up and move from spot to spot, pecking and messing around. They are also terribly cow hocked. Not sure if chicken folks use that term but to clarify, it's when the hocks turn in towards one another. The hen is horribly cow hocked; the roo not so much.

Thanks, again.

 

[Judy]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=135247

This is an interesting, can't-hurt-might-help tx for Marek's. Not saying you have Marek's, but it is complex and there is more than one strain. If I were in your shoes, I'd probably try to find some of this stuff.

I assume you have chicked for mites and lice? Looked for blood or worms in the poo?

Sure wish you well.

 

[Judy]

oops

 

[liberty]

Same thing happened to one of my guineas a couple of years ago. Eventually she rubbed herself raw and bloody from trying to get around. We had to cull her - very sad.