Help, I think my poor chick is dying!

[Dandelle]

I have an Americauna bantam that's around a month old. She has been getting worse and worse. She, along with my golden-laced wyandotte that's the same age, started spazzing out weeks ago. I thought they were just afraid, nay terrified, of me and were shaking out of fear (why? I dunno. never had a chick that afraid of me before). About a week ago, I noticed that both had deformed beaks. And as of yesterday, I noticed that the americauna won't lift her head, not at all. I took a better look at her beak and it's quite soft and rubbery. With her head on the ground, she tries to scoot around, and in doing so, is looking like she's having a seizure or something.

Anyhow, does anyone know just what is going on here? My first instinct is to cull her to rid her of all her maladies, but I've never even culled one before. I just don't want her to suffer.

 

[Eggcessive]

Rickets may be a cause of the soft rubbery beaks, and will affect the bones as well. This is caused by a Vitamin D3 deficiency, and there is also a mineral imbalance (phosphorus) and calcium.) This may be the cause of the leg problems too. Give them 3 times the dose of vitamin D for 2 weeks straight, and then make sure they are getting a good balance of vitamins/minerals by putting them on a good poultry vitamin in their water along with a good starter/grower feed. Here is a link about rickets:
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/124/rickets-hypophosphataemic
http://www.hobbyfarms.com/livestock-and-pets/rickets-in-chickens.aspx

 

[katbriar]

Wo

Rickets may be a cause of the soft rubbery beaks, and will affect the bones as well.  This is caused by a Vitamin D3 deficiency, and there is also a mineral imbalance (phosphorus) and calcium.)  This may be the cause of the leg problems too.  Give them 3 times the dose of vitamin D for 2 weeks straight, and then make sure they are getting a good balance of vitamins/minerals  by putting them on a good poultry vitamin in their water along with a good starter/grower feed.   Here is a link about rickets:
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/124/rickets-hypophosphataemic
 http://www.hobbyfarms.com/livestock-and-pets/rickets-in-chickens.aspx

Wow. Thanks for sharing that. I had no idea!

 

[Dandelle]

Thank you for your reply! Doesn't sound like anything else? I have them on a medicated chick feed from the feed store, so I'm not sure how they would have gotten that while none of my others did. I will give the vD3 treatment if I can get my hands on it somewhere.. I wonder if the feed store would have something like that? I'm guessing Poly-V-Sol (however it's spelled) won't work. Thanks again for the reply and help!

 

[Eggcessive]

Yes , the PolyVisol would work temporarily, but you probably wouldn't want to give 3 times the normal dose of the all the fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E) for 2 weeks, since that might be harmful--just give the vitamin D or D3.. Make sure that your feed is fresh since vitamins and minerals can be depleted with feed that has been on the shelf. Always look at manufacturing labels for dates.

 

[Dandelle]

Well, last night the poor girl passed on. Unfortunately, it was probably for the best. I sent my dad out to the nearest Tractor Supply earlier in the day, and they didn't have any vitamin D. My parents are going to a VA diet class, and afterwards will go to the nearby local feed store to see if they have it. The wyandotte is not nearly as bad off as the other, so she should make it through. As far as the other two chicks, they don't seem to have been affected by this at all.

I got my feed from the aforementioned local feed store; it's pretty cheap, and I've always wondered why it was so cheap (figured it was because it didn't need to be shipped far, but now I dunno). Also, this bag I got seems a lot more "dustier" than usual, so maybe it wasn't mixed right or yep, maybe it was sitting on the bottom of the stack for a while.

Well I'll start putting vitamins in their water from day one from now on; I don't ever want to lose another this way. But at least the three survivors should be ok.

Thanks again for all the help, I wouldn't have figured it out myself.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. Many times the vitamin deficiency starts with the parent stock. A good vitamin is Avian Super Pack online. I haven't seen it in feed stores her, but dosage is 1/4 tsp per gallon, and it comes in a 4 oz. packet. http://www.jefferspet.com/avian-super-pack/p/AB-P1/

 

[Dandelle]

Many times the vitamin deficiency starts with the parent stock.

Makes sense, the chicks come from a large-scale hatchery, so I'm sure things get overlooked occasionally.