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

[amnich]

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.

If it's a feed store that got chicks from Ohio, the hatchery would be Mt. Healthy.

 

[Megan Amber]

New Update!!! We actually had a chicken that acted like this and I was sure we should put it down but my sister objected and I let her nurse it. She tied a splint on it and excercised it every day and about one month later she is up and walking again.

 

[chicklvrbruce]

i also got her at a local feed and seed. not sure where she came from but i'm in the williamsburg area and so is the store. i picked up 6 total birds and the rest are just wonderful. i'm doing prett much what you are and it isn't getting worse but not really improving either. just crossing my fingers and hoping jbs! keep me posted on your end and i will do the same

 

[chicklvrbruce]

thnx megan. ready to try anything, just hope i have the time to devote

 

[farmerRyan]

Check its feet. I went through this problem and I put a splint (Cardboard on bottom and a band aid on top make sure it fits the foot good. Also make sure none of the stickie parts are touching the chick. I also try to spread out the toes.) I hope your chick gets better

~Ryan

 

[jbs]

i also got her at a local feed and seed. not sure where she came from but i'm in the williamsburg area and so is the store. i picked up 6 total birds and the rest are just wonderful. i'm doing prett much what you are and it isn't getting worse but not really improving either. just crossing my fingers and hoping jbs! keep me posted on your end and i will do the same

I got 10 chicks from my feed store and the rest are doing well. I have them in a brooder with 8 other chicks (survivors from a Meyer order of 15). The drunk chick thing seems fairly common, but in most threads I've read either the chick dies within a few days or gets better. Or it ends up being Mareks. It seems fairly unusual to have a chick one week into this that has gotten somewhat better but not totally. I did read about one chick illness where chicks that get better generally fail to thrive, so it's recommended that they be put down. I'm starting to wonder if that's what's going on with my chick. She was definitely sick with something that she seems to have at least partially recovered from, but I'm not sure if she's going to pull through or not.

If it was just her leg I'd splint it, but she's so uncoordinated and off balance that it seems like it would stress her further. Good luck with your chick chicklvrbruce, I hope that she gets better.

 

[jbs]

New Update!!! We actually had a chicken that acted like this and I was sure we should put it down but my sister objected and I let her nurse it. She tied a splint on it and excercised it every day and about one month later she is up and walking again.

This is encouraging Megan. Was your chick sick and did she act really dizzy and off balance, or did it seem like her problem was mainly her leg? I'd splint my chick's leg if I thought it'd help, but it seems like it would hinder her too much. How does the chick sleep if it's leg is splinted or legs are taped together? Maybe I should just try it.

 

[erin175]

We ended up putting her down I really didn't want to, but felt terrible watching her suffer. So far, nobody else in the flock is exhibiting any of the same symptoms. To answer a few questions, we are using pine shavings as bedding, and I change it every couple days. They are in a very large stock tank in my garage. While it is probably drafty at times (when I open garage door, etc.) it doesn't stay that way for more than a few minutes. Based on the entire flock's behavior, they're warm enough. I've only been feeding medicated chick starter, with a handful of dried meal worms once a day. Once the sick chick was brought inside, she was definitely kept warm enough & had no drafts, was kept on paper towels with same feed. No problems with sick chick (or any other chick's) vents, ears, eyes, etc. They don't have access to anything that could be spoiled/molded. I'm bummed I don't know what caused the problem, but hoping it was an isolated incident. I'm completely reaching here, but other people having this issue, do you have styrofoam in your brooder? The stock tank mine are in is HUGE, so I have them sectioned off with a piece of styrofoam. They, of course, peck it like crazy. I've made provisions to stop the issue, but I thought maybe sick chick got some sort of .... whatever... from ingesting styrofoam???

 

[Megan Amber]

She acted completely off balance. My sister was the one trying to save her and she thought splinting it's leg would help. It didnt look to comfy at night time and it did look pretty rough when it was on. But turned out it seemed to help. I say splint but we actually wrapped it in that medical no stick wrap!

 

[jbs]

We ended up putting her down I really didn't want to, but felt terrible watching her suffer. So far, nobody else in the flock is exhibiting any of the same symptoms. To answer a few questions, we are using pine shavings as bedding, and I change it every couple days. They are in a very large stock tank in my garage. While it is probably drafty at times (when I open garage door, etc.) it doesn't stay that way for more than a few minutes. Based on the entire flock's behavior, they're warm enough. I've only been feeding medicated chick starter, with a handful of dried meal worms once a day. Once the sick chick was brought inside, she was definitely kept warm enough & had no drafts, was kept on paper towels with same feed. No problems with sick chick (or any other chick's) vents, ears, eyes, etc. They don't have access to anything that could be spoiled/molded. I'm bummed I don't know what caused the problem, but hoping it was an isolated incident. I'm completely reaching here, but other people having this issue, do you have styrofoam in your brooder? The stock tank mine are in is HUGE, so I have them sectioned off with a piece of styrofoam. They, of course, peck it like crazy. I've made provisions to stop the issue, but I thought maybe sick chick got some sort of .... whatever... from ingesting styrofoam???

Sorry about your chick. I think I've decided to put my chick down as well. She's just not getting better and the only reason she's alive is that I force her to eat and drink. If I had left her alone I think she would have died within a day or two, which probably would have been better for her. Watching her waste away and thrash around is awful.

No styrofoam in my brooder; I've been using a child gate to divide my stock tank. I've read everything I could find about this, and it seems somewhat common for chicks to develop these neurological problems due to congenital issues or they get sick from a virus or fungal infection that doesn't affect healthier chicks. They either get better or they don't, and I think I've been dragging this out for my chick too long. I think you did the right thing.