chick walking on hocks

[Maple Cake]

hello again everyone!
recently we bought 4 new chicks from our local farm supply store. we've had them for a few days now, maybe a week, and suddenly one is walking on its hocks. The hens haven't been very aggressive towards them so im unsure what could have caused this injury.
It hobbles on its elbows for a short distance then stops, lets its wings relax/spread and it stays like that until deciding to move again.
I did notice that while it sits, it seems to be flexing its tail or maybe its just breathing hard.
any ideas on what could be wrong and how to fix it?

 

[coach723]

These are baby chicks? How old? They should be in a brooder with a heat source, not with adult birds. They need a heat source for the first 5 weeks, they cannot regulate their body temperature. They also may be getting kept from feed by the adult birds. Maybe from water as well. I can't see your set up, so am guessing. They should be on a chick starter feed as well, not a layer feed. Layer feed has too much calcium which can damage their growing organs. They should not be on layer feed until they are old enough to lay, usually 20 weeks old at least.
Hock sitting is often caused by vitamin deficiency, riboflavin specifically. I would get a B complex or super B complex tablet or capsule and give about 1/4 of one once a day to the chick. You can grind it up(tablet) or empty it (capsule) and mix with a small bit of moistened chick feed so that it will stick, and feed that to the chick. And if any of the other things I've mentioned are happening I would rectify that asap or you may lose them.

 

[Maple Cake]

These are baby chicks? How old? They should be in a brooder with a heat source, not with adult birds. They need a heat source for the first 5 weeks, they cannot regulate their body temperature. They also may be getting kept from feed by the adult birds. Maybe from water as well. I can't see your set up, so am guessing. They should be on a chick starter feed as well, not a layer feed. Layer feed has too much calcium which can damage their growing organs. They should not be on layer feed until they are old enough to lay, usually 20 weeks old at least.
Hock sitting is often caused by vitamin deficiency, riboflavin specifically. I would get a B complex or super B complex tablet or capsule and give about 1/4 of one once a day to the chick. You can grind it up(tablet) or empty it (capsule) and mix with a small bit of moistened chick feed so that it will stick, and feed that to the chick. And if any of the other things I've mentioned are happening I would rectify that asap or you may lose them.

Noted. My father bought them and let them out. He tried putting them in nest boxes for our brooding hens but the chicks wanted nothing to do with it and all got out in the hen yard. They've been thriving so far, its peak summer and has been so warm out that a heating lamp didnt make any difference in temperature. the chicks roam the pen and sleep in the coop with the hens at night. They arent the only chicks, theres an older one that naturally hatched in late may, our hens have spent the last month hanging around a baby which is why they arent bothered by the new ones.
they've been getting medicated chick feed every meal and pick at scratch I toss out for the hens, which all our past naturally hatched chicks have been fine with thus far. our layer pellets are too big for them to eat as of right now but I suppose there could be little broken crumbles they might be getting at, I'll take more precaution from now on. If needed I can set up a small temperary holding for them until theyre older.
Ive seen them freely eating and drinking, so thankfully thats not an issue.

 

[Maple Cake]

These are baby chicks? How old? They should be in a brooder with a heat source, not with adult birds. They need a heat source for the first 5 weeks, they cannot regulate their body temperature. They also may be getting kept from feed by the adult birds. Maybe from water as well. I can't see your set up, so am guessing. They should be on a chick starter feed as well, not a layer feed. Layer feed has too much calcium which can damage their growing organs. They should not be on layer feed until they are old enough to lay, usually 20 weeks old at least.
Hock sitting is often caused by vitamin deficiency, riboflavin specifically. I would get a B complex or super B complex tablet or capsule and give about 1/4 of one once a day to the chick. You can grind it up(tablet) or empty it (capsule) and mix with a small bit of moistened chick feed so that it will stick, and feed that to the chick. And if any of the other things I've mentioned are happening I would rectify that asap or you may lose them.

I'll try your vitamin suggestion and see if theres any improvement. it seemed fine yesterday, maybe it got hurt. I'll seperate it and keep and eye on it.

 

[Maple Cake]

update on the situation: its acting fine today, so im not sure what yesterday was about. im keeping an eye on it

 

[coach723]

Did you give it vitamins?