Curious chick weakness?

[clkingtx]

Hello,

My chicks are a week old today. They came from Ideal, and have done very very well so far. I have 50+ standard, and 25+ bantams. They are being housed separately, and I am using softwood chips as bedding. I started them on an 18% chick starter, thinking it was higher. I had a couple of standard chicks(one yellow and one reddish orange) that would lay down and stretch one leg out to their side. I put them in with the bantams and went to a chick starter that was 25% protein; and while I was deciding how to treat them, they recovered. The next day, the reddish orange one just seemed a little weak, and the yellow one seemed normal. Now they are both normal. Yesterday I had another reddish one act really weak. It was acting like it just couldn't really run around much, and it is still acting that way. It will run, but kind of with it's wings outstretched sometimes, as if for balance. It acts like it is really tired. I put it in with the bantams, figuring maybe it got trampled in with the big chicks, and just needs more room, and more gentle bunkmates. Does this behaviour sound like a cause for concern?

Thanks,

Carrie

 

[clkingtx]

Anyone have any ideas? Does this sound like maybe the affected chicks could have been trampled, or ........? I just need reassurance that it isn't a disease, or something I need to further act on.

Thank you

 

[gritsar]

The behavior you described of "that would lay down and stretch one leg out to their side" sounds like normal chick behavior to me.
They learn to subathe under their heat lamps at an early age.
If you are still concerned about it, I would keep the ones you're worried about with the bantams and perhaps offer a one-on-one feeding at least once a day. That's how I helped my runt chick to cope and she's a big strong hen now.

 

[clkingtx]

I will do that, thanks. Hopefully it is just a runt thing, and it will be ok. I just mainly wanted to make sure it didn't sound like a disease that would endanger all the babies.

thanks a lot,

Carrie

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
If there's no nasal drainage, no sneezing and they are eating, drinking and pooping normally, I would treat it as a runt chick.

 

[clkingtx]

I will do that, thanks.

Carrie

 

[txchickie]

They sound like they are doing great! Those silly chicks will lay in the wierdest positions sometimes and I've looked at the brooder and thought "OMG they're dead!" and they were all sleeping with their feet in the air or head in the feeder

 

[riftnreef]

On my first batch I thought they were dead when I walked in and saw all of them laying like that! Of course I felt guilty when I woke them up in a frenzy...LOL they were just relaxing, but it does look a bit odd, and if I remember correctly, they grew out of it around 3 weeks.