Help! Rickets?

[beckysuzp]

I just got home tonight, been gone since Tuesday, and have had someone coming over once a day to take care of my chicks etc. I got home and one of my meat chicks (Cornish Roasters, 12 days old) was laying on it's side. I picked him up and put him on his feet and he's not using his left leg at all, and barely using his right. I put him on his feet and he sits on his butt, starts to lean, and ends up back on his side. He's alert, eating and drinking when it's right next to him. I seperated him from the rest, w/his own food and water. I looked up a little bit on the forums here and then went and looked up Rickets, and it sounds close. So now what? Vitamin D: Can I get this at Agway or TSC? A little advice would be much appreciated.

 

[mipsy6]

check his beak and toenails as well. are they soft or bendy? that's a way to tell if it's rickets vs. something else. the treatment for rickets is vitamin D, so get him a chicken multi-vitamin, like nutri-drench, or use a children's liquid multi-vitamin (although apparently it's important to get one without iron). some people also give yogurt. you might want to make sure he's going in the sun some, too.

 

[beckysuzp]

Okay, well, her toenails and beak are not soft. And now when I went down to check, I've got another meat bird walking funny: like squat walking. Ugh!! What's going on? Some sunlight tomorrow should help vitamin absorbtion, and a trip to town for vitamins. Is there anything else I should do?

 

[sammi]

plain yogurt, mixed with water cooked oatmeal, chick feed, and cooked egg yolk.
vitamins, including D..
might help...

are you feeding them free choice, including leaving feed out for them thru the night?
meat birds need to have food monitored, and somewhat limited..
they are prone to gain weight fast and have leg problems.

describe the droppings..color and consistency..
they are prone to cocci, too.

 

[beckysuzp]

Poop is good, mostly brown with a little green tint. I don't take the feeder away per se, it's just empty by morning (everyone gets fed once a day, in the evening). Just FYI, I have 27 chicks in one very big rabbit cage, 12 of which are cornish roasters, the rest a variety of layer chicks and they have a one-gallon waterer and a 22(?) hole double-sided feeder. The one that was squat-walking yesterday I can't pick out of the bunch now, so apparently he's fine. The original 'sick' chick: idk what's wrong with him, but if I were to venture a guess at this point, I'd say he's growing too fast and his legs aren't keeping up too well. He IS getting around when he wants to. He isn't letting anyone sit or stand on him and he manages to be in a different place every time I walk by and his crop was full first thing this morning. BTW - last night's separation did not work - I tried putting him in a box right next to the cage and he was having none of it. Every few minutes he'd attempt to fly out and just about tip the box over, so I figured wth and put him back with the rest. I checked agway today - no vitamins for chicks til next week. So went to Wallyworld and bought pet bird vitamin drops and put it in the water, so hopefully that helps a bit. Will update you all tomorrow. Thanks for the advice.

 

[sammi]

do try the yogurt mix...he could be having a rickets problem, mainly from growth spurt..
meat birds are just prone to leg problems due to quick growth...

if you need vitamins and can't get chick vitamins..you can use Poly-vi-sol liquid baby vitamins, Enfamil brand, no iron..2 drops on beak once a day for a week..then taper off..
you can get these vitamins at any pharmacy, and even some grocery stores.

info about rickets:

http://happyhenhouse.proboards43.com/index.cgi?board=natural&action=display&thread=5248