- Dec 30, 2010
- 17
- 1
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Hello,
one of my chicks (named Creeper) has a leg problem. He's 6 weeks old now, and it's only been happening for 1 week. I've read online and in the forums hereit's not spraddle-leg, his toes seem to be fine, the legs aren't broken, and he doesn't seem paralyzed, so I don't think it's Mareks (I don't know how he'd catch it anyway, since he was hatched by my hens the old fashioned way and hasn't had any exposure). He just can't seem to balance on his feet. Either he has to lean way back, or more often, far forwardhis breast is practically touching the ground. This is only when he stands still. He walks normally, but avoids moving as much as the other two (they're sharing a large dog kennel). When he's standing, I can see his feet trembling and he rocks back and forth until he finds a good position to stay upright. He was using a roost normally in the last (smaller) enclosureI only just made a new roost for the big cage, and so far I've only seen one out of the three using it.
The only other time I've seen him do this was when he was a day oldthe brooder light had burned out, and he and his brother spent all day shivering in the corner and not eating or drinking. When I got home he wouldn't stand upright, he couldn't peep (I could tell he was trying when I put my ear up close), and his eyes stayed closed as long as I was holding him, but I mashed up some chick crumbles in water and fed it to him with a medicine syringe and he was fine under a new heat lamp in an hour or so. Now, he seems fine otherwisehis eyes are clear, he doesn't sleep more than the others (though again, he doesn't like to move around as much). His poop is normal.
I don't know if there's anything physical I can do to brace him or help him balance. I started putting PolyVisol in their water 3 days ago since I couldn't make him drink it directly, and there's no effect so farI've also heard putting nutritional yeast in the chick crumbles can help with leg issues.
If anyone else has dealt with this or has some advice or links to share, I'd really appreciate it.
one of my chicks (named Creeper) has a leg problem. He's 6 weeks old now, and it's only been happening for 1 week. I've read online and in the forums hereit's not spraddle-leg, his toes seem to be fine, the legs aren't broken, and he doesn't seem paralyzed, so I don't think it's Mareks (I don't know how he'd catch it anyway, since he was hatched by my hens the old fashioned way and hasn't had any exposure). He just can't seem to balance on his feet. Either he has to lean way back, or more often, far forwardhis breast is practically touching the ground. This is only when he stands still. He walks normally, but avoids moving as much as the other two (they're sharing a large dog kennel). When he's standing, I can see his feet trembling and he rocks back and forth until he finds a good position to stay upright. He was using a roost normally in the last (smaller) enclosureI only just made a new roost for the big cage, and so far I've only seen one out of the three using it.
The only other time I've seen him do this was when he was a day oldthe brooder light had burned out, and he and his brother spent all day shivering in the corner and not eating or drinking. When I got home he wouldn't stand upright, he couldn't peep (I could tell he was trying when I put my ear up close), and his eyes stayed closed as long as I was holding him, but I mashed up some chick crumbles in water and fed it to him with a medicine syringe and he was fine under a new heat lamp in an hour or so. Now, he seems fine otherwisehis eyes are clear, he doesn't sleep more than the others (though again, he doesn't like to move around as much). His poop is normal.
I don't know if there's anything physical I can do to brace him or help him balance. I started putting PolyVisol in their water 3 days ago since I couldn't make him drink it directly, and there's no effect so farI've also heard putting nutritional yeast in the chick crumbles can help with leg issues.
If anyone else has dealt with this or has some advice or links to share, I'd really appreciate it.
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