Chick having trouble walking.

[ChaoSS]

I'm doing a set of Cornish Rocks, my first chicken experience. I got them last Sunday, I believe it was, so I've had them 8 days, but they are probably closer to 13 days old, since they had been at the TSC for a few days.

One of the chicks is having trouble walking. It can get up and walk, but it struggles. It seems to stumble a little bit while trying to stand up. It also won't walk far before plopping back down.

Yesterday was the first day I started restricting feed. Is this not too early to be having foot problems?

I checked the bottom of his feet. I don't have any pictures, maybe I can get some later but he wasn't having any of it with me trying to hold him like that. I don't know if it's the early stages of bumblefoot, it looks like it could be a scab on the bottom of his foot, but the other chicks look like they have callouses on the bottom of their feet and this doesn't look very different. I took them outside today, but today was the first time, can they get bumblefoot at this age with no exposure to the outside? Is that bacteria likely to exist in the wood shavings?


If this is a leg problem already, will restricting feed possibly help that to go away, to get better? Or do I need to cull? I already lost one of them to an unknown cause shortly after buying them, I know I need to expect some loss but this seems like a lot so early.


Oh, and as for restricting feed, what's the best way to do that? Should I start doing 12 on 12 off already? I work long enough hours that I'm usually gone about 12 hours a day, so shorter periods would be hard, since I'm trying not to make my wife do too much of the work with these guys. Is it better to give them their food during the day or during the night?

 

[rockcreekfarms]

If you got them from your local TSC then they may have gotten them from a large-scale commercial hatchery (since that is usually the cheapest source for Cornish cross varieties), and large hatcheries may not grade their birds very well. If it's a problem that the chick has had for a long time and you're just noticing it now then it may be a defect.

 

[ChaoSS]

It could be a problem that it's had, I really only noticed it when I got them outside, since they do sit around so much it's easy to not notice one not really walking. If he continues to be able to walk at least a little bit should I just let him keep going? Would a little forced exercise be a good thing?

 

[rockcreekfarms]

In my (not very extensive) experience genetic defects that limit walking ability don't seem to cause a lot of pain to the chicks, so they should be fine to keep going. I would imagine though that if they aren't walking as much then they would be more likely to have leg problems (which cornish cross are notorious for since they grow so fast) but I'm no expert...