Injured (?) baby chick not using leg and laying on side

[Frosty_2503]

We have a young silkie hatched Feb 23 (now is March 13) and was in with a second one. She is now segregated. One morning (about 5 days ago) I went to check on them and she was laying down on her side and doesn’t want to use one of her legs so she kind of shuffled around and pokes it out on occasion. She can still move it but she avoids doing so. It doesn’t seem to be a tendon issue, there is no heat or swelling, and all her joints feel the same as the leg that she will use. She’s eating and drinking, but will not walk on that leg. What could this be? How do I fix this?

 

[Got_The_Chick_Itch]

It is a vitamin deficiency I wrote an article on it if you want to check it out.

 

[azygous]

First, treat her with a little sugar water. That may be all that's necessary to get her on her feet again. As @chicken heven said, it may be a vitamin deficiency. B-2 (thiamine) deficiency can cause lameness and curled toes. The cure is vitamin B-2 tablets dissolved in the water.

 

[Mellowmalt]

azygous, thiamine is not vit B2, thiamine is vitamin B1, and a deficiency causes stargazing.

Riboflavin is vitamin B2 and causes leg paralysis and curled toes.

Foods high in B vitamins include bakers yeast and sun flower seeds. Go sparing on the bakers yeast though, only add a few % to their feed, sunflower seeds can and should be fed regularly.

Feed exposed to sunlight causes the Riboflavin to degrade which can cause these issues.

 

[Frosty_2503]

azygous, thiamine is not vit B2, thiamine is vitamin B1, and a deficiency causes stargazing.

Riboflavin is vitamin B2 and causes leg paralysis and curled toes.

Foods high in B vitamins include bakers yeast and sun flower seeds. Go sparing on the bakers yeast though, only add a few % to their feed, sunflower seeds can and should be fed regularly.

Feed exposed to sunlight causes the Riboflavin to degrade which can cause these issues.

thank you! I have had dissolved B2 in her water for about a week... how long does it take to see progress? She still will not use the one leg :/

 

[Mellowmalt]

hey frosty,
I'm glad to see it's hanging in there. Coming up to 6 weeks old. I really hope you see progress, it helps to know what did go wrong and how to prevent it in future (even sorting the deficiency in the parents) just hope it is enough in time for this one.
I don't have an answer for you only that if it takes more than 3 weeks then maybe it never will walk.
I've not had much luck saving chicks that couldn't walk so I just passed on the information I learnt trying to figure out what went wrong for me before and I have seen positive effects of using vits when they are poorly but that's as far as my expertise goes, if they have serious problems those are harder to fix