Chick acting VERY oddly

[debilorrah]

I had to help this chick out of the shell last night, and it LOOKS fine, but every 60 seconds or so, it starts scratching itself with its feet and its head goes down and it flails all over the place peeping like mad. Almost like a seizure. What is this? Should I cull it?

 

[saladin]

Never help a chick from the shell. Most do not survive very long and those that do are generally weak their whole lives. You want strong vigorous stock. That begins with hatching. Culling this chick is the right thing to do. saladin

 

[debilorrah]

Quote:
Thanks but if I hadn't helped chicks from the shell they would have died. In fact one did, because I waited too long. the polish I helped from the shell is the strongest of the bunch. And I have rather agressive 4 week old that I helped. All had been pipped over 24 hours.

What I need to know is what this behavior is. It seems better this morning. I noticed that the toes on one foot are crooked.

 

[Chefmom]

Wow!! I had a peep do this three years ago or so. It was a batch that I received in the mail. One chick would fall over and start banging its head with its foot and the peeping became loud and really obnoxious. Then it would stop, stand and act normal before the whole thing started again. I called the hatchery and they did a search of their books, and the kind person on the phone actually went around and asked everyone. She called back and said no one could think of anything.

In about a day or so I couldn't tell this peep from the others, it just seemed normal. All went on to healthy adulthood and I never could tell which peep did this odd behavior. The person from the hatchery gave me ideas on how to cull it if need be, but then it stopped the behavior, so I didn't have to go that route.

My husband said it reminded him of a baby with an ear infection and wondered if some moisture was trapped in the ear canal from hatching. That was the best thing I've heard in all these years. I would give it a day or so and see what happens, but I don't think it is serious or had anything to do with you helping it from the shell.

 

[debilorrah]

Quote:
It IS doing better today, but still beating itself up with its feet now and then. If we take it out and hold if for a bit it seems to help. Very strange. This is from a shipped egg too!

 

[BlueBuddha]

I have a day old Silkie which is doing this now. We hatched it from an egg obtained from a local organic farmer and its 11 siblings appear to be fine... It is hard to imagine it having an infection, having been isolated from the world for the last 21 days. It hatched on its own and has been eating and drinking fine for the last twelve hours, now all of a sudden it begins having "seizures": falls on its back, head lolling from side to side, legs furiosly scratching under its chin (only one leg at a time, and
i have already checked for debris/irritants), and peeping loudly... Then it is fine for a minute or two before repeating.

We have already started it on electrolytes and the infant vitamins...

Not sure if I should isolate it in case of infection... Again, hard to imagine it having an infection, and if so the other 11 have already been thoroughly exposed by now...

Darren

 

[ranchhand]

Hi Darren, welcome to BYC. Sorry it's under troubling circumstances!

It will be better if you start your own thread in this same section.

Go to the Index, click on Emergencies etc. Read the stickies there and then click top right for New Topic.