drunken walk, extra big ameraucana chick--cause?

[chickenannie]

Does spraddle leg cause unsteadiness as they grow? I mean, does it cause them to lose their balance easier as an adult?

My small roo seems fine in every way except that he loses his balance easily, his legs are slightly splayed, and he has some kind of very mild shivering or tremoring -- like an old person's hand shaking, for example -- he's been doing the "shivering" since he was a chick (he's 6 month's old now) and seems fine in every other way.

 

[SharonX]

Chickenannie,

Are those Buff Orphington's in your avatar? I have one buff and one black Ophington month olds.

From what I have read, riboflavin deficiency (B2) causes irreversible nerve damage at some point. You might offer him some vitamin laced water and hope he improves if this is the cause of his unsteadiness. OR he may just grow to be more steady as he matures.

No one knows for sure how they become deficient and if improvement can occur as they get older. The books I read say you have to catch it early to fix it and they do not know a sure cause of it -- could be a few things including the bird's own genetic predisposition to not being able to metabolize Vit B2 from food well.

Someone on the group who has a degree in poultry husbandry would certainly know more. I am just contributing my experience with my baby pullet and the research I did on the web to try to find something to help her and it worked. She is fine now and not yet 1 month old -- her BD is the 6th.

 

[Tootsie]

Thanks for your kind words about Little Phyllis. I cannot believe she is still here over a year since she first couldn't walk either.

As I said she was also exceptionally big and then when this happened she kind of stopped growing much more at all. Glad the ameraucana is doing well.

 

[SharonX]

I let the big girls out to dig in the dirt today. They are the two Delaware Reds (about 6 months) looking at the little girls I put in their coop. I put the 7 little girls (1 month olds) in the tractor for the day and they had a swell time running in all that space. The white Silkie needs a buddie as the two Delaware Reds are not that crazy about hanging out with her.

2 Brahmas, 2 Amerucanas, 2 Orphingtons and 1 Black Sex-Linked (the one who had the problem). I got a light and a dark of each type except the Black Sex Linked who is black. I need another adult Silkie for a friend for my white lonely Silkie.