Chick acts "drunk" can't figure out what's wrong??

[Kaybug137]

I was looking up "Chicken falling over" I believe I had the same problem a year ago...but not quiet sure I think they just got sick I don't know..


But here is something I found in the research..
" A few things come to mind, botulinum poisoning, Mareks, an inner ear problem. Check her ears for any swelling, heat or drainage.

If you look up the symptoms for botulinum poisoning see if they match her behavior, same with the Mareks. Botulism can be treated with molasses or epsom salts. But its better to try and get a handle on what it is before treating."

Try some sugar water, add a little bit of sugar to the water
Hope they get better

 

[murfmagic]

I've had my chicken separated from the flock for two weeks now and I'm not sure what to do with her. She's not getting any worse, still stumbling but eating and drinking fine, but I don't think she will hold up to the rooster's advances if I put her back in with the others. I don't like her being by her self for so long, so now I'm looking for suggestions as to what to do. Can someone please help.

 

[chicklvrbruce]

I have a month old partridge rock showing the same signs. wobbly when she moves and listless. she will stand with her eyes closed and peep non-stop. wings droop slightly when she is sitting and she isn't eating and drinking like the others. if anyone has any knew ideas, please let me know, i hate to lose a baby and not know why!

 

[Megan Amber]

Possibly worms?

 

[chicklvrbruce]

not sure where she could have gotten them, still inside the brooder and don't see how she could have contracted worms.

 

[missnu01]

Does marek's affect chicks that young? It's usually around 8 weeks, and then again at around 16-20 weeks that I have seen birds fall prey to Marek's. Is there anyway the chicks are getting chilled? Could there be a draft, or just not enough heat from the brooder lamp? Could there be too much heat? Is it possible that you have some moldy bedding in there somewhere, because aspergillus can cause all manner of strange behaviors. Just check everything you can, and don't add too much nonsense to the food and water. Brewer's yeast is a good additive. It promotes digestive health and all that...How are the crops on the affected birds, and their stools are alright? Or thin, or what is up with that end of the chicks?
I am new to freshly hatched chicks myself, but so far it's going great. Everyone is growing like crazy and doing well. I have only had adult birds, or fully feathered chicks with a broody hen before. A couple of the broody hens chicks were the ones that got marek's. At around 8-10 weeks old. They had to be put down within a month as they could no longer move on their own at all. The survivors in the brood are all 6 months now and one even started laying, So I might be in the clear with them...
But now I have a whole mess of new chicks.

9 meat birds
and 4 pekin ducks
outside in a brooder we built.

Inside in a toybox and huge box I have
4 mallard ducks (2 newbies, and 2 that are a couple weeks old)
5 Buff Orpingtons
6 Leghorns
4 EEs
2 assorted red pullets.

Having them inside is kind of nice, because I can't skip on cleaning their brooders out..they are in my living room...Really in the way of messes the Pekin Ducks are king. I can't wait til they can be out on their own. They are pretty big and starting to get all their white feathers in so we're getting close.


So basically, how are their poops, how are their crops, what bedding are you using, and what are the temps?

 

[missnu01]

not sure where she could have gotten them, still inside the brooder and don't see how she could have contracted worms.

It is unlikely that a chick that has never touched the ground could have worms.

Have you had much issue with pasty butts?

 

[amnich]

Check this out:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...y-and-crazy-chick-disease-photos-added-post-5

Some chicks are prone to vitamin deficiencies, even if you are feeding it the exact same thing as the others. One of mine had this out of a group of four. Hope you figure out what is wrong with your chick!

 

[Megan Amber]

Nope not worm's them. I will continue to think about it!

 

[jbs]

I'm very interested in this thread as I'm going through something similar with one of my 3 week old partridge rocks. Last week I found her one day laying down, unable to walk. I separated her and forced Poly-vi-sol down her beak twice a day, as well as any water that I could, watered down hardboiled egg yolk, etc. She had very labored breathing and seemed very weak and sick. She had bright green stools which I read (somewhere) meant that she wasn't eating.

On day three she seemed to perk up a bit, would drink if I held her to the water dish, started pecking at food, but never ate very much. This went on for a few days, then day six (yesterday), I put another chick with her (yeah I know, maybe not the best idea, but they've all been exposed to the same things by now and no one else is getting sick) to keep her company. This seemed to perk her up a bit, they snuggle up together, and watching the other chick eat seems to have increased sick-chick's interest in eating. So here we are day seven and she's actually eating a fair amount, she seems pretty alert, but she acts drunk (I found this thread searching for "drunk chick"), she stumbles and flops around quite a bit. When she lowers her head to eat it seems to throw her off balance and she'll twirl around a few times before falling over. I keep moving the feed dish around so she can get to the food.

I'm wondering if I should have put her down last week. I want to do what's humane, but my chick has been improving the last few days so I guess I'll just wait and see. I was hoping that she had some sort of vitamin deficiency brought on by not eating (brought on by some sort of virus or something else), but if it was a deficiency I'm assuming she would have recovered by now.

Chicklvrbruce I'm curious that your chick is a partridge rock like mine. Where did you get your chick? I got mine from a local feed store, they said she came from a hatchery in Ohio. I don't remember the hatchery name, but not Meyer.