Are week old baby chicks supposed to do somersaults?

[Alveyfarm]

We have a week old Bantam chick that we bought last Friday, she was fine for the first day when we brought her and 2 of her sisters home. The next day she started doing somersaults and falling over when falling asleep. We put her in a shoe box and kept her under a heat lamp by the bed and she seemed better in the morning. She is eating and drinking just fine, but still goes into these fits. It is like she is having a seziure. Is this normal?

 

[NeeleysAVLChicks]

Sounds like she might have a neurological issue or vitamin deficiency going on. I personally haven't dealt with it, but a lot of folks have had good luck with upping the vitamin intake. You can try giving her a couple drops of Poly-Vi-Sol (liquid baby vitamins, make sure and get the ones WITHOUT added iron), you can find them at most drug stores, Walmart, etc for around $7-10. I would also put a little bit of organic apple cider vinegar in their water, its good for everyone all around, helps boost the immune system and absorb vitamins more efficiently.

Make sure the little one isn't getting picked on by the others. If so, I would recommend sectioning off a little area for her so she can see the rest of the chicks but has her own access to food and water.

Good luck! Hopefully someone else will chime in with more info for you!

 

[Oven Ready]

Are you completely sure she is eating? Is her crop full?

We've found that malnutrition causes these backflips as they appear to go into to some sort of hypoglycemic state that upsets their nervous system. It might not be lack of food that starts it, it may be a disease or trauma that stops them eating but once they start to run out of energy they seem to turn into aspiring acrobats.

If her crop isn't full, you need to get it full to give her the best chance.

I've got another post somewhere with details of what we feed them when they do this.

I'll find it and put a link in here, there is also plenty other infomation in that topic as well.

Here is the link
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=338777&p=6

Unfortunately the topic does not have a good outcome but there is a lot of good information throughout the entire topic.

I hope you have better luck.