Cornish X chick not walking what should I do?

[mrsteiner]

My Cornish X chicks are 12 days old and I haven't restrict their food yet, but they are becoming less active. Today I have a chick that is crawling around the brooder--not walking. He takes a few steps occasionally.

He seems to be able to get water OK, will restricting food be enough to help this guy? Or do I need to treat it another way. The rest of the chicks don't seem to be bothering him so I haven't isolated him.

 

[mrsteiner]

This morning I noticed the other chicks are starting to pick on him so I have isolated him. He hasn't had food all night but doesn't seem interested in eating this morning.

 

[Me & My Peeps]

I had one like that recently. I watched him and brought him to the feeder/water every hour. He was always sleeping. I woke up this morning to find that he gave up the fight sometime during the night. Sometimes its jjust the genetics and they will not live, no matter what you do. He lived till day 5.

 

[Recon]

Seems like no matter what I do, I always loose 10 percent between the time they arrive and the time I butcher. Don't loose any sleep over it. Some of them just don't make it. And it sounds like this one you described may be headed for that 10 percent group... it feels even worse for me when they role over and die the week before I plan to butcher.

 

[Chick Charm]

It's worth being repeated. It should be expected to loose some of your meaties simply due to the way they have been bred. It is common for some just to not make it. They have been specifically bred to gain weight so fast that health problems are the norm. That being said Meaties are the best chicken being raised solely for meat purposes in my opinion. We have to calculate the death rate into the equation so to speak.

 

[mrsteiner]

Thanks for your help and comments about meaties. Since this is my first flock of any kind of chickens I had intended to learn all I could on this "practice flock". I was sure with the help of BYCers I could resolve every chicken issue!

It makes me feel better just to hear that I can plan on about 10% loss and not to sweat it when that happen.

Thanks all--

 

[Matrix Escapee]

Probably had a leg issue. Out of my 100 we lost 3 in the first 5 days. Their toes were curled and legs stuck out at a 45 degree angle. The only thing you can control is environment (temperature/dryness) and feed. We are gonna enhance our feed with more vitamins/minerals and fish meal.

Hang in there.

 

[journey11]

Even a little lame, they will not turn out good for size. If he can't get food, water easily on his own, he'll fail to thrive anyway. The others will get very aggressive about eating and he'll be left out, eventually starve out. As young as it is, you'll not have much in him right now anyway. IME, it's best and more humane to cull in this case. I had to do one this last batch too. Hated it, but it was for the best. Dislocating the neck is quick and easy on a small chick. It will die instantly. Just a quick pull and twist motion. Sorry!