Chick not right!

[marlene]

I have a pekin bantam chick who is 3 weeks old tomorrow, she/he does not seem right to me. It sits on its own in a corner most of the time and does not interact with the othe 6 chicks at all. It appears to not be walking right, its as if it is struggling to walk and looks like its waddling very slowly like duck like ( if that makes sense) when it does walk it dropps its swing really low by its side. Only walks if it want to get food or water, rest of the time it sits in a corner sleeping.
It deffinately is not spraddled legs, its legs appear perfectly normal, it just appears to find it hard to walk on them for some reason.
I first noticed this chick being a loner about 2 weeks ago so kept an eye on it and thats when i noticed it was'nt walking right, before this i did not notice any thing wrong with it so not sure if it has been like it from birth. I have been putting vitamins in the water for the last week but have not noticed any difference.
I hope some one can help with this as this chick is my favourite.

 

[heatherkh]

Sorry, I have no advice but I'm rooting for your little chick.

Does it seem to be eating/drinking/pooping normally? How does it's crop feel?

 

[suzeqf]

I had a little banty hen like that she had a major case of pasty butt until she was 3 weeks old or so she just seemed to hang out by herself a lot and rest and then about a week later it was like someone turned on a switch or something because when my hubby got back from a business trip a week later he ask me if i had gotten a new chick and I said no that's Smore's. Give your little one a bit of time she may just be a little slower growing up than the rest.

 

[marlene]

Quote:
It does seem to be doing all of that, i have kept a close eye on it and seen it eat/drink and poop.
What is the crop, have heard it mentioned on here but do not know what it is, how do i check it? And how do i check for pasty but?

 

[raymondjames]

The crop is where the food they eat goes before it hits the gizzard (stomach). I didnt know what it was till 2 days ago

 

[catterbug]

Give her a week or so. She may surprise you.

 

[marlene]

So how do i check the crop and what am i looking for when i check?

 

[nurse_turtle]

Feel her breast bone. It starts just below the chin and goes downward toward the under belly. If it is very prominent and sharp and there are sunken areas on each side of the breast bone, she is starving and malnourished. It's often called failure to thrive. You should administer vitamin water via dropper. Separate the bird so you can better monitor how it's eating, pooping, etc. I have dealt with this recently and I had given up on my chick but she is doing so much better just 1 day later after dropping the vitamin water for her. I put a few drops of poly-vi-sol in a cup of water and drip the drop to the side of her beak, and she drank. I have every belief that she is going to be OK, except I may have a house chicken on my hands.

 

[marlene]

Thank you all for the input, i did start her on vitamins yesterday so i hope she will be ok, love this little chick and would be devestated to loose her.

 

[heatherkh]

Hi, sorry I posted and then didn't follow up, but it looks like you got some good advice. I would definately separate her so you can monitor her food intake, poops etc for the time being. Some chicks just need a little individual attention to give them a boost.

Please keep us posted!