Chick injured and depressed

[chick steffry12]

Help! I have adopted a chick around four weeks ago from a cal-ranch in Flagstaff, AZ. The chick was is rough shape when first getting him. Both his legs do not work well (he still manages to get around) he is not bleeding and has a healthy appetite. We are feeding him non medicated food- he has a heat lamp and we hold him everyday for 35-60 min a day everything has been going good except for two things:1. He isn't growing fast ( he also has a lack of feathers on his wings but his legs and feet are covered in feathers) 2. He is getting lonely and depressed. We just adopted a duckling but have had to separate them because the duck was bullying our chick. We went back to CAL-Ranch, traded for another duck- came home same problem. We once again went bak asked for more advice and the workers told us to get another healthy chick. However I have read that healthy chicks will bully unhealthy or handicap chicks... Any advice ? Thanks

 

[loveourbirds]

is this chick a brahma by chance? they sometimes don't feather well. if it is a brahma, get another brahma chick.
add some sugar or vinegar to her water at a rate of 1 tablespoon per quart.

switch to medicated starter. medicated starter is safe to feed to your chicks through 8 weeks of life. it allows them to get minor illnesses and get over them, acquiring a natural immunity. by the time you would eat any eggs or meat from the bird the antibiotics will be long gone. the dose of medicine in this is very low. you will give more if you have to treat an illness.

if you are raising certified organic birds, you probably cannot use the medicated starter. check your water's ph, if its not 6.5 -7 you might need to adjust it for overall chicken health. you can test it with a pool or aquarium test kit, or litmus paper.

good luck,
brian