Chick with lame leg

[Belle020]

Hello,

I have posted here before about this. This is just an update.
I have a chick he is 7 days old today. The chick has a weak left leg. I took him to the vet on Wednesday when he was 5 days old. I had a leg brace on him since the first few days, its made out of a rubber band and have inch straw. Anyways the vet told me to keep it on him for another 2 weeks and maybe keep him separate from my other chicks. I did try that but unfortunately I only have one brooder and heat lamp and have no other way to keep him warm. So I put him back in with the other chicks. He seems happy enough with them, there's only 3 in with him. I had 7 chicks hatch but sadly 3 of them died so now I only have 4 left. Three of them are perfectly fine. Its just this one chick that has a bit of trouble walking. He is able to walk around and get to the food and water bowl and he eats and drinks fine. But he is a bit slower than the others. At times he tends to lean on his right left while he rests his left. But he mostly walks around fine with a bit of a limp. I have noticed him improving slightly the past few days. Just the other day he was dragging his left leg but now he walks with both feet and can run a bit. He is still trying to get his balance so he cant fly like the others as much yet. He does sometimes flap his wings though so he is trying his best. So any advise you can give me would be great. Do you thing it is okay to keep him in with the others? or should I move him. I have him on Poultry Tonic its in there water witch all the chicks are drinking. The vet told me to keep them on that just in case. And lastly is there anything else I can give them, like treats? to make them stronger.

Thank you!

 

[PD-Riverman]

Hello,

I have posted here before about this. This is just an update.
I have a chick he is 7 days old today. The chick has a weak left leg. I took him to the vet on Wednesday when he was 5 days old. I had a leg brace on him since the first few days, its made out of a rubber band and have inch straw. Anyways the vet told me to keep it on him for another 2 weeks and maybe keep him separate from my other chicks. I did try that but unfortunately I only have one brooder and heat lamp and have no other way to keep him warm. So I put him back in with the other chicks. He seems happy enough with them, there's only 3 in with him. I had 7 chicks hatch but sadly 3 of them died so now I only have 4 left. Three of them are perfectly fine. Its just this one chick that has a bit of trouble walking. He is able to walk around and get to the food and water bowl and he eats and drinks fine. But he is a bit slower than the others. At times he tends to lean on his right left while he rests his left. But he mostly walks around fine with a bit of a limp. I have noticed him improving slightly the past few days. Just the other day he was dragging his left leg but now he walks with both feet and can run a bit. He is still trying to get his balance so he cant fly like the others as much yet. He does sometimes flap his wings though so he is trying his best. So any advise you can give me would be great. Do you thing it is okay to keep him in with the others? or should I move him. I have him on Poultry Tonic its in there water witch all the chicks are drinking. The vet told me to keep them on that just in case. And lastly is there anything else I can give them, like treats? to make them stronger.

Thank you!

I think I might have posted before-----what will help the MOST is Time! As long as it is getting around the cage and not being bothered by the others---it will be fine. I wonder why the others died? That's over 40% death? Asking because I am concerned---I have 100 chicks in my bigger brooders at times and might have 1 to die----maybe some times I might have 2 to die in the first week and some times None-----if I had aver 40% death that would be over 40 die out of a 100??? Good Luck with the rest!

 

[Belle020]

Thanks for your reply

The chicks that died could not stand up at all and would not eat. I tried helping them to eat and drink, they drank a bit but would not eat anything. I got the eggs posted from a hatcheries. I have hatched my own eggs before but this never happened so I don't know why its different this time. Maybe something was wrong with the eggs?

 

[azygous]

It sounds as if your lame chick is responding to the vitamins in the "Poultry Tonic". Is it by any chance Poultry Nutri-drench? It's what I use.

Your chick and the ones that died may have had a vitamin deficiency that caused the lameness. Or it could be something much more serious. You could be one of thousands of flock keepers that has a virus in their flock and don't know it.

Two weeks ago my broody hatched some eggs. There were twelve eggs. Three chicks were dead before they could completely hatch. Two chicks made it. All the rest of they eggs didn't develop at all. I'm pretty sure it's directly related to a virus called lymphotic leucosis I know is in my flock. It is transmitted from chicken to chicken and to chicks in their egg as they develop. There is no cure. It's something I have to live with or cull my entire flock and begin fresh. There are other viruses that behave the same way that live in the environment much longer and are not easily eradicated.

If you really want to know what could be killing your chicks, take one that has just died to a state agricultural lab and request a necropsy. Then you will know for sure what you may be dealing with and can go from there. Your vet can help you with this so ask them about it.

 

[Belle020]

This is what i use, It goes in their water. I'm afraid I have buried the dead chicks so I can't send them to the lab but I have emailed the hatcheries where I got the eggs. So I'm hoping to get to the bottom of the problem. I'm sorry about your chicks I know it's hard when you lose so many that young

Anyways Thanks for replying