Chicken cannot walk or stand.

[tjscorp]

I have a batch of 50 chicks that I bought from a local store just over 2 weeks ago. A few days ago, one of them started to waddle about as if it were having difficulty walking. It kept getting worse until eventually she could not walk at all. She just sits there with her legs stretched out in front of her and even if I try to help her up, she falls over on her back side with her legs stretched in front of her. She cannot even stand up to go and feed and i need to carry her to the feeders and drinkers manually myself. I tried putting a rubber band around her legs so that she could get them back into position but it did not help, it was only hurting her ankles. She does not seem to be injured as she has been indoors the entire time. Her legs still do flex, I have tried manually flexing her legs and massaging her, but she still goes back to the fully extended leg posture that she prefers. What could this be? Please help.

 

[No More Empty Nest]

I have a batch of 50 chicks that I bought from a local store just over 2 weeks ago. A few days ago, one of them started to waddle about as if it were having difficulty walking. It kept getting worse until eventually she could not walk at all. She just sits there with her legs stretched out in front of her and even if I try to help her up, she falls over on her back side with her legs stretched in front of her. She cannot even stand up to go and feed and i need to carry her to the feeders and drinkers manually myself. I tried putting a rubber band around her legs so that she could get them back into position but it did not help, it was only hurting her ankles. She does not seem to be injured as she has been indoors the entire time. Her legs still do flex, I have tried manually flexing her legs and massaging her, but she still goes back to the fully extended leg posture that she prefers. What could this be? Please help.

You might get a quicker response in the Emergencies and Illnesses thread. I have no answers for you unforntunately.

 

[annaBsChick]

Have you tried using the chicken symptom checker tool to get an idea of the possibilities of what it could be?

 

[ChickNanny13]

It's possible vitamin deficiency ... Riboflavin deficiency; Poly Visol without iron, Vitamin B Complex, Nutri Drench, foods rich in riboflavin (scrambled or boiled egg yolk, ground raw almond, beef liver, fortified cereals, etc) Vitamin B Complex less costly, you can dissolve a tablet in a gallon water or mash it about 1/4 & mix into it's food.

What are you feeding? Are the toes curled?

You may want to make a sling to keep it upright, maybe separate so it don't get trampled. I had one develop this when it was about 3wks, took me about 2wks with PolyVisol minus the iron. I had to separate it, you have others so if there's one or two that aren't so rumbustious, put them with it for company. If it's toes are curled, you can use Vet Wrap and tape the toes straight, like a shoe.

Mine went from stretched out like you describe yours, curled toes to a cocky cockerel that would not tolerate his litter mates, yup SPOILED!

 

[chickens really]

What feed are they eating?..

 

[aart]

Duplicate threads here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chick-with-splay-leg-cannot-walk-or-stand.1285127/