"Drunken" chick

[HeritageHens]

Newbie chicken owner.

I have a easter egger that was hatched on about July 27th. She is in my brooder with 8 others. Until yesterday, she was 100% normal. Late in the afternoon, she started acting like she is drunk - falling over occasionally and losing her balance. She also seems to be breating a little harder than normal. Given how quickly chickens can go downhill, I didn't expect her to make it through the night - but she did!

She is still eating and drinking this morning as well as preening herself. When this first started, I thought something was wrong with her foot. I inspected both feet and saw no growths, inflamation, nor anything stuck on them. She was kind enough to poop right in front of me just now and it was an absolutely perfect poop; not runny, bloody, or abnormal in any way.

I chose not to use medicated feed but this doesn't seem to be cocci. I do give the girls a liitle bit of non-fat plain yogurt nightly (the chicks go nuts for it!). I have been bringing in small chunks of grass and dirt for them every few days. I'm organic so there are no chemicals in my lawn. I inspected her crop last night and it seemed full, not hard or abnormal.

I tried posting last night but the forum seemed to be having issues.

Any ideas? TIA!

 

[ranchhand]

I don't know.

In this situation I would continue with the normal care and observation, and perhaps try to get some vitamins in her. Poly-Vi-Sol without Iron works well, most pharmacies sell it with the baby vitamins.

Good luck and

Sorry it's not a happier occasion!

 

[HeritageHens]

Thank you but I forgot to add that I did add in a tiny pinch of the Russell "Vitamins and Electrolytes Concentrates with Stabilized C" to their water this morning. It doesn't have iron.

Any other ideas?

 

[white01]

had same thing happen to one of my hens, i did the vit B therapy, worked awesome, cant even tell which one it was, do a search on here for vit B therapy... hope this helps...

 

[cowboychickens]

Although it has been several years ago, I brought in a rescued hen to our flock who seemed perfectly healthy at the time. Soon, she became a proud mother to 12 baby chicks. I had also other chickens at the time of my own before this wonderful group appeared. By the end of a six month period, I had lost all of my hens, rooster, and new chicks to what was finally diagnosed as Marek's Disease. So the wonderful little hen that we took in was a carrier of this cruel disease, but had no symptoms. Some of the symptoms that we experienced were: walking and acting as if they were drunk, eventually their feet would curl up and they were no longer able to walk. In the end they were also not able to sit up either or eat. Marek's is a disease that attacks the nervous system. So, I no longer take in "rescued" chickens. But, if you do make sure you keep them separated from your flock. This may not be what you are experiencing, and I certainly hope it is not, but I just felt it was important to share this info. Now I purchase only chickens or chicks that have been innoculated for Marek's Disease.

 

[HeritageHens]

White, thank you! I will research this.

Cowboy, I am *so* sorry for your losses! All my chicks were purchased locally with the Marek's vaccination. I know that no vaccination is 100% effective so I hope it isn't Marek's.

(And if you noticed the disconnect between "easter egger" and my username, she's my only non-heritage hen.)

 

[kckakes]

Hi HeritageHens! I too had the same thing happen with my Roo. He was fine one morning when we let him out, crowing all day and running through the yard. By the end of he day, he was "panting" and turning around in circles and acted like he couldn't see. We picked him up (which was strange enough being as he would usually attack us when we got near him) and put him back in the pen with his three chicks. The next morning he was crowing again and he seemed better, only now it appears that he's blind! He keeps his eyes closed all day and he runs into the garage doors. He doesn't seem to be able to see the worms or beetles we drop for him on the driveway and I haven't seen him peck at anything in two days. He also lays with his chest down and tail in the air or roams with no particular reason. He doesn't stay with his girls, definitely not predator watching, and I am not sure what happened. We have those super large bees flying around and the chicks and roo loved to hang out under a fig tree where the bees have been. We also have woods in the back where I guess he could have wandered when no one was watching. Could he have gotten stung or bitten by something that would cause this sort of reaction? I feel horrible that this has happened to him and I don't know what to do.

 

[cowboychickens]

Hi HeritageHens! Soooooo glad that you purchased your original chicks innoculated! So, it must be something else that you are experiencing - thank goodness! I did see the disconnect and that is what worried me originally.

 

[HeritageHens]

White, that seems to have done the trick!! It's too early to

but Ziva is walking normally, doing chicken yoga while standing, and even perching on the training roost this afternoon.

I haven't seen her falling on her haunches or with the clenched up toes this afternoon at all.

I followed Lobzi's advice in this thread - all 31 pages. I gave her a crushed up B-50 tablet and a tiny bit of flax seed meal and vitamin E in her beloved yogurt. She wasn't too fond of the yellow flavored yogurt

(or maybe it was the stress of me restraining her) so I used a 1cc needle-less syringe to encourage her cooperation. I also picked up the Rooster Booster vitamin/electrolyte solution which has accurate measurements for poultry rather than the 4 ounces to 256 gallons on the Russel. I'll continue adding this to the water for about 4-5 days per the Rooster Booster package.

Other than the yellow beard that was left even after a mandatory face wash, her buddies were intrigued with her new facial adornment.

Thank you White and Robin!!

 

[HeritageHens]

So now the follow up questions -

Is this a food formulation error, individual deficiency, or something else? I've had Ziva for two weeks (she's 3 weeks old) and I don't think she's stressed. I'm feeding the Nutrena Chick Starter/Grower but plan on switching to something else for the next bag (organic if possible). Should I periodically give the chicks an extra dose of B vitamins to prevent this in the future?