Curly toes and riboflavin deficiency

[GeorgRodway]

I have a 5 week old clb chick who has suddnely started walking on her elbows/hocks her toes aren't exactly curled but she just can't stand up and instead gets around by walking and shuffelling on her hocks and balancing her self with her wings Is this riboflavin deficiency?

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry to be the only one answering you, but I found one more reference to riboflavin deficiency--they mistakenly call it vitamin G, when it should be B2, but never the less it points to the condition your chick is having: http://www.apa-abayouthpoultryclub.org/Edu_Material/VITAMINS.pdf

 

[Werafa]

A success story against the odds. (don't give up hope)

We have a chicken that had paralysed legs at around 1 month old. It recovered, only to relapse several weeks later. We realised only after the relapse that this was caused by a vit B deficiency, and feared that we were too late (it was several days into the second bout before we got the supplements going).

We tried Berocca (a soluble vitamin B supplement (the chick rather liked it)), a free-range poultry nutrient block that I ground up in my coffee grinder, and later we began mixing raw egg with her feed.

She began to regain strength after about two weeks, but was completely unable to control her legs - despite any and all the chick physio treatments we could think of. Various sources on the net state that the myelin sheath on the nerve thickens and pinches the nerve. these sources also said that the damage is permanent.

We kept feeding her, changing her nappy, and praying. one day, after five weeks, she got the use of one leg back. a day or two later, the second started coming good. She is now a walking miracle. I don't know whether her increase in size has allowed the nerves more space - so they don't get pinched - or whether the nerves have both grown and regenerated as she grew. None of the 'official' descriptions of the condition suggested that this was possible. I can only guess that this is because the researchers simply watched what happened, and did not intervene when chickens became too weak to fend for themselves.

So - don't give up, even when the case seems hopeless.

 

[Eggcessive]

A success story against the odds. (don't give up hope)

We have a chicken that had paralysed legs at around 1 month old. It recovered, only to relapse several weeks later. We realised only after the relapse that this was caused by a vit B deficiency, and feared that we were too late (it was several days into the second bout before we got the supplements going).

We tried Berocca (a soluble vitamin B supplement (the chick rather liked it)), a free-range poultry nutrient block that I ground up in my coffee grinder, and later we began mixing raw egg with her feed.

She began to regain strength after about two weeks, but was completely unable to control her legs - despite any and all the chick physio treatments we could think of. Various sources on the net state that the myelin sheath on the nerve thickens and pinches the nerve. these sources also said that the damage is permanent.

We kept feeding her, changing her nappy, and praying. one day, after five weeks, she got the use of one leg back. a day or two later, the second started coming good. She is now a walking miracle. I don't know whether her increase in size has allowed the nerves more space - so they don't get pinched - or whether the nerves have both grown and regenerated as she grew. None of the 'official' descriptions of the condition suggested that this was possible. I can only guess that this is because the researchers simply watched what happened, and did not intervene when chickens became too weak to fend for themselves.

So - don't give up, even when the case seems hopeless.

That is a great story. thanks for sharing it, and I'm glad that your chicken is doing much better. I just wanted to comment on the Berocca, which I had never heard of before. I would caution others from using this as a riboflavin source, since it contains several things including caffeine and magnesium, that may be harmful to chickens. Here is a list of the ingredients:

— Vitamin A: 10% of your daily value
— Vitamin C: 1667% daily value
— Thiamin (vitamin B1): 1000% daily value
— Riboflavin (vitamin B2): 882% daily value
— Folic Acid: 100% daily value
— Vitamin B12: 167% daily value
— Pantothenic Acid: 230% daily value
There are dozens of other ingredients included in Berocca, including a range of different synthetic compounds and natural extracts.
Here’s the full list of ingredients:

Citric Acid, Ascorbic Acid, Sodium Bicarbonate, Maltodextrin, Magnesium Sulfate, Calcium Carbonate, Magnesium Carbonate, Caffeine, Polyvinylpolypyrrolidone; Less than 2% of: Acesulfame Potassium, Aspartame†, Beet Juice Powder (color), Beta-Carotene, Biotin, Calcium Pantothenate, Cyanocobalamin, Folic Acid, Guarana Extract (seed), Mannitol, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Niacinamide, Polysorbate 60, Polyvinylpyrrolidone, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Sodium Phosphate, Salt, Sodium Carbonate, Sorbitol, Thiamine Hydrochloride, Zinc Citrate.​