Lethargic chick barely standing and very thirsty

[ChickiesforLIFE]

Hey! Please help me! I incorporated some chicks into my flock about a month ago, and they’ve been doing great so far. Little bit of bullying from the older ones, but nothing more than some chasing and warning pecks. Today, I went out to the coop, and one of my chicks is acting funny. She seems to be favoring a leg, and was getting knocked over easily. Her eyes and nose were clear, and she was still cheeping. I took her out, and while no leg injuries, her back seems to have gotten some feathers taken out. Once removed from the coop, I gave her water and food, and she went CRAZY for the water. Practically drank a while chick watered herself. She’s still drinking some now! So my question is, is her back the problem? Or did she perhaps get dehydrated? I have a very large watered in the coop, but only one. Maybe the others weren’t allowing her to get to it? Please help! As of know she can stand, but only for short periods of time. She prefers laying, and she’s just drinking water. She has a dropping near her, yellowish and a bit runny. Any advice is much appreciated! I really love my little Reba

 

[ChickiesforLIFE]

 

[ChickiesforLIFE]

Update* she has now started eating, not to crazy, but she’s eating
Still not walking, but very responsive, alert, and with clear eyes, vent, and nostrils

 

[Wyorp Rock]

How many hens/roosters do you have in your coop/run? (total number of birds)
How big of a space? (Sqft)

She may have been kept from water. I'd let her drink, then offer a small amount of wet feed.
What does her crop feel like?

 

[ChickiesforLIFE]

I have 14 hens total, with a run of two pieces connected to the coop. The run is 8ft x 8 ft and the connector pice is 5ft x 3ft. The coop is 4x4 ft with lots of of perch bars. That makes 79 sq ft of run space, and I let them free range every day. Her crop feels slightly squishy, but not too bad. Her feed is wet, and she’s had lots of water and is still right next to it. She is not with any other chickens rn.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Space may be a bit tight for 14 hens, but if they mainly free roam most of the day that's even better. The missing feathers on her back is from pecking and/or being mounted. Even if you have all hens, sometimes a dominate hen can mount the youngster to establish pecking order or just to be a bully.

She may have been kept from food/water. See how she does overnight. Check her crop in the morning to see that it's emptied. While you are checking her over in the morning, look for lice/mites, any bruising (green skin), indication of swelling of the joints/injury, etc. that may be causing some of her issues.

 

[ChickiesforLIFE]

Space may be a bit tight for 14 hens, but if they mainly free roam most of the day that's even better. The missing feathers on her back is from pecking and/or being mounted. Even if you have all hens, sometimes a dominate hen can mount the youngster to establish pecking order or just to be a bully.

She may have been kept from food/water. See how she does overnight. Check her crop in the morning to see that it's emptied. While you are checking her over in the morning, look for lice/mites, any bruising (green skin), indication of swelling of the joints/injury, etc. that may be causing some of her issues.

Thank you I checked her this morning, doing good. Her crop feels normal, not seeing any mites. Her back appears to be a bit swollen, but not bruised (green). Today, I’ll continue making sure she has food and water, and see how she feels about walking outside. I simply kept her in a box last night inside the house, and she did very well. Thank you for taking the time to answer, it means a lot

 

[ChickiesforLIFE]

Space may be a bit tight for 14 hens, but if they mainly free roam most of the day that's even better. The missing feathers on her back is from pecking and/or being mounted. Even if you have all hens, sometimes a dominate hen can mount the youngster to establish pecking order or just to be a bully.

She may have been kept from food/water. See how she does overnight. Check her crop in the morning to see that it's emptied. While you are checking her over in the morning, look for lice/mites, any bruising (green skin), indication of swelling of the joints/injury, etc. that may be causing some of her issues.

So, still no walking, and ALOT of eating and drinking. Do you have any idea what could be? I just can’t tell if it’s injury or sickness at this point, but I think If I act fast she has a fighting chance. Her body is limp, and she can’t walk at all, she’s moving her wings some tho. I checked for bumblefoot, her feet look alright except for on the top some small red slightly swollen patches. She will freak out if I hold her and act as tho im about to flip her on her back, starts wiggling and cheeping like crazy. If it is her back, do you recommend any treatment? Thanks in advance

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Not sure what's going on with her.
It may be disease like Marek's since she's unable to use her legs. You can try giving vitamin therapy to see if that makes a difference. Give her 1/4 tablet B-Complex daily.
A little extra protein in addition to her chick starter would be good, egg/meat/fish.

 

[ChickiesforLIFE]

Not sure what's going on with her.
It may be disease like Marek's since she's unable to use her legs. You can try giving vitamin therapy to see if that makes a difference. Give her 1/4 tablet B-Complex daily.
A little extra protein in addition to her chick starter would be good, egg/meat/fish.

Thank you I’ve given her a small amount of scrambled egg so far, and I’ll definitely try that vitamin.