Day old chick - Leg Weakness

[Wyorp Rock]

I have been continuing the Vitamin E + eggs for everyone daily, although I stopped the extra B vitamins for Peep sooner. I suppose I could put a few drops in their water easily enough. I purchased a supplement in the goat section based off a tip from BYC that's a tube of Selenium and Vitamin E gel, which I was able to get Peep to eat a bit of this morning.

Hope it helps.

Just a note...there's a reason why we recommend what we do. Take a look at the Analysis on your particular Goat Vitamin. Most of them, you will have to give 2ml to even get 200IU Vitamin E and that would include 23.2mcg Selenium.
So...to get 400IU Vitamin E into Peep at least once daily, you'd need to give her 4ml of the goat vitamin. And of course, that would increase the Selenium way over the recommended daily allowance of 25mcg. Just sayin'. I know there's lots of threads and I know there's lots of opinions and things that folks do.
At the end of the day - it's up to you as the keeper to do your own research, your own homework and read up on what's the best products/dosing and treatment(s) to administer to your flock.



Typical example of Analysis in Goat Vitamin E with Selenium.

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

Oh, that's interesting. Thanks, I will look closer at mine and see what it is.

Honestly, I'm just trying not to over think it and going with a, "some supplementation is better than no supplementation," approach. I ordered my premium chick starter, and will do the best I can and keep and eye on it, hoping it improves. If I have to increase it I will, but I'm sure I won't be giving her that high of a dose anyway. We'll see how it goes.

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

Okay can we please just take a moment and admire this plump, juicy little chicken!???

That's Peep, sitting on the feeder.

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

Peep is growing into such a sweet and beautiful bird! I will try to get some better pictures in the days and weeks to come, but I'm so grateful we were able to help her, every time I look at her. She's 7.5 weeks old now, and I have decided to keep her, along with the two Wyandottes, that were all brood mates. Despite her rocky start, she is definitely a "keeper," and I believe she will make a stunning addition to our little backyard flock.

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

@Wyorp Rock I was wondering, do you think at 8 weeks she is big enough to take a whole capsule? I had been doing the gel stuff intermittently, but I still see some occasional twitching. I would love to really feel like we were truly past this. I would give it to her and her flockmates as well, and I got 50 mcg Selenium tabs I planned to cut in half. I have never given a chicken a pill before, so I wasn't sure if 8 weeks is old enough to manage to swallow something like that. And how long do you think they might need the supplementation before all the symptoms are resolved? They otherwise look and act completely normal (I think).

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She should be able to swallow the small Vitamin E gel just fine.

Neurological symptoms can take quite a while to resolve if at all. I'm glad she's recovered to this point.

Here's how to give meds, if giving a pill, then just pull down on the wattle and pop the pill inside the beak.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

She should be able to swallow the small Vitamin E gel just fine.

Neurological symptoms can take quite a while to resolve if at all. I'm glad she's recovered to this point.

Here's how to give meds, if giving a pill, then just pull down on the wattle and pop the pill inside the beak.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

Okay, I will give it a try. There's almost no wattles, but anyway she tolerates being handled well.

Yes, I'm happy to say that her feathers have all come in beautifully, and she is a strong little lady who has no problem either asserting her place amongst the big hens, or being a calm, supportive presence to her sister flockmates. She's also, luckily for me, not overly flighty, and not too hard to pick up and handle, which I appreciate in a chicken. I think we all know the frustration of not being able to catch your chicken when you need to! But I have found that the few chicks I have had that needed special care in early days, tend to also be the ones who want to come back and be held as they get bigger, too.