my 1 week old Seramas cant walk all of a sudden today. im in Texas and Fowl pox is common.

[marque]

I have about 100 chickens if you count all ages. I live in Texas so Fowl Pox is a common illness when the mosquitos are plenty. I hatched a small group of 7 Seramas a few months ago and one of the females hatched 5 eggs about 6 days ago. All of my other chickens have either been vaccinated for Fowl Pox or they are a decendant of a vaccinated hen. Today, 2 of the babies can't walk...like one of their legs has stopped functioning. They still act normal other than the difficulty to walk. My past experience with fowl pox tells me that this is one of the symptoms and it's possible that this is what it is. I have vaccinated chickens before for FP but I think they have to be 2 weeks before their vaccinated, but should I go ahead and vaccinate the seramas and these babies or just wait to see what happens with them? A lot of people don't vaccinate for fowl pox, they just let it run its course, but since these are so small, ( smallest chickens in the world), they are more fragile than most chickens. Should I vaccinate???

 

[coach723]

I doesn't really sound like you are dealing with fowl pox. More likely either maybe slipped tendons or maybe a vitamin deficiency. Pox usually presents with lesions/blisters/lumps on the non feathered parts of the body, or with wet pox some respiratory symptoms. Age to vaccinate for pox is usually at least 6 to 8 weeks old, but 4 weeks prior to point of lay, depending on which vaccine is used, I'm not sure but I don't believe any immunity is passed from parent to chick. Incubation period for pox is 4 - 10 days.
Have you examined the legs of those chicks for abnormalities? Can you post some pictures or a video of them trying to walk? Letting others see what they are actually doing may help in getting suggestions for what is going on.
Here are a few links with info that may help:
https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry
https://www.tillysnest.com/2014/03/vitamin-deficiencies-in-backyard-chicks-html/
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/3642/fowl-pox-in-layers-an-overview/

 

[marque]

I doesn't really sound like you are dealing with fowl pox. More likely either maybe slipped tendons or maybe a vitamin deficiency. Pox usually presents with lesions/blisters/lumps on the non feathered parts of the body, or with wet pox some respiratory symptoms. Age to vaccinate for pox is usually at least 6 to 8 weeks old, but 4 weeks prior to point of lay, depending on which vaccine is used, I'm not sure but I don't believe any immunity is passed from parent to chick. Incubation period for pox is 4 - 10 days.
Have you examined the legs of those chicks for abnormalities? Can you post some pictures or a video of them trying to walk? Letting others see what they are actually doing may help in getting suggestions for what is going on.
Here are a few links with info that may help:
https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry
https://www.tillysnest.com/2014/03/vitamin-deficiencies-in-backyard-chicks-html/
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/3642/fowl-pox-in-layers-an-overview/

I've had chickens get fowl pox before. Sometimes they started acting funny before showing the first visible signs but, the links you sent to me about leg issues, I read them all and I'm starting to wonder about the cage floor they're on. it's not a cage I've ever used before but it has much smaller holes because the seramas are so tiny and I didn't want them to get out or anything get in. The base of the floor is kind of uneven and there's hay on it. I'm going to transfer them to a better enclosure and see if it helps.

I doesn't really sound like you are dealing with fowl pox. More likely either maybe slipped tendons or maybe a vitamin deficiency. Pox usually presents with lesions/blisters/lumps on the non feathered parts of the body, or with wet pox some respiratory symptoms. Age to vaccinate for pox is usually at least 6 to 8 weeks old, but 4 weeks prior to point of lay, depending on which vaccine is used, I'm not sure but I don't believe any immunity is passed from parent to chick. Incubation period for pox is 4 - 10 days.
Have you examined the legs of those chicks for abnormalities? Can you post some pictures or a video of them trying to walk? Letting others see what they are actually doing may help in getting suggestions for what is going on.
Here are a few links with info that may help:
https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry
https://www.tillysnest.com/2014/03/vitamin-deficiencies-in-backyard-chicks-html/
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/3642/fowl-pox-in-layers-an-overview/

I doesn't really sound like you are dealing with fowl pox. More likely either maybe slipped tendons or maybe a vitamin deficiency. Pox usually presents with lesions/blisters/lumps on the non feathered parts of the body, or with wet pox some respiratory symptoms. Age to vaccinate for pox is usually at least 6 to 8 weeks old, but 4 weeks prior to point of lay, depending on which vaccine is used, I'm not sure but I don't believe any immunity is passed from parent to chick. Incubation period for pox is 4 - 10 days.
Have you examined the legs of those chicks for abnormalities? Can you post some pictures or a video of them trying to walk? Letting others see what they are actually doing may help in getting suggestions for what is going on.
Here are a few links with info that may help:
https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry
https://www.tillysnest.com/2014/03/vitamin-deficiencies-in-backyard-chicks-html/
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/3642/fowl-pox-in-layers-an-overview/

I doesn't really sound like you are dealing with fowl pox. More likely either maybe slipped tendons or maybe a vitamin deficiency. Pox usually presents with lesions/blisters/lumps on the non feathered parts of the body, or with wet pox some respiratory symptoms. Age to vaccinate for pox is usually at least 6 to 8 weeks old, but 4 weeks prior to point of lay, depending on which vaccine is used, I'm not sure but I don't believe any immunity is passed from parent to chick. Incubation period for pox is 4 - 10 days.
Have you examined the legs of those chicks for abnormalities? Can you post some pictures or a video of them trying to walk? Letting others see what they are actually doing may help in getting suggestions for what is going on.
Here are a few links with info that may help:
https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry
https://www.tillysnest.com/2014/03/vitamin-deficiencies-in-backyard-chicks-html/
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/3642/fowl-pox-in-layers-an-overview/

I read the lings you sent about leg problems and chickens. I did try to attach a video I'm having issues with that but when I'm thinking is the one I read talking about the bottom of the cage or what the babies are walking on could quite possibly be the issue. I've never used the current cage I have 4 mothers with chicks but the holes are much smaller and I didn't want the chicks to get out or something get in and get them. who's the one the mothers hatch on their selves out the hen house and make sure they have food and water constantly and clean bedding and they raise them their selves out in the boxes with hay. the reason I thought they were sick was because more than one was acting like that but it would also make sense that the floors are too uneven for them especially when their mom is feeding them and pecking the ground and their food and kicking them everywhere. I'm going to prepare a better enclosure to transfer them into. thankyou so much! I will keep you updated.

 

[coach723]

I hope that's all it is. If it's splay leg be sure to hobble them to correct it, the longer you wait the less likely it will resolve. The link I gave you before has very good information on that. If you need to post a video later you can post it on youtube or another host and put the link here. I've never had chicks this young with pox, but have never seen symptoms similar to what you describe with it. Hope they recover!

 

[marque]

I hope that's all it is. If it's splay leg be sure to hobble them to correct it, the longer you wait the less likely it will resolve. The link I gave you before has very good information on that. If you need to post a video later you can post it on youtube or another host and put the link here. I've never had chicks this young with pox, but have never seen symptoms similar to what you describe with it. Hope they recover!

I hope that's all it is. If it's splay leg be sure to hobble them to correct it, the longer you wait the less likely it will resolve. The link I gave you before has very good information on that. If you need to post a video later you can post it on youtube or another host and put the link here. I've never had chicks this young with pox, but have never seen symptoms similar to what you describe with it. Hope they recover!

I've never had chicks with FP either, it was more than 1 acting funny and I've had a couple chickens with fowl pox having leg issues ( like they're losing their ability to walk).. so it was just a guess. I did prepare a nice new safe home for them. I returned them to the mother and other chicks. By the time I did that, I noticed that the babies were already walking a little better before I returned them. Strange, huh? So, the happy little family is back together and I sit and watch to see if the floor was really the problem. No! The mama bird starts going after the babies that were acting funny, pecking them aggressively! I was horrified! She seems to only want to take of one of five of them and the rest must go! These are her first babies and she's very young. I have never had a mama do this before in my 8 yrs of having chickens. Ofcourse I took her out but she still hovers around trying to get back in there with the chicks. I've tried once more to see if she would be okay the next day and she immediately goes after the small ones . Mystery solved. Thankyou for the help. The other cage was also definitely very hazardous for their fragile little legs.

 

[coach723]

Glad you were able to figure it out, and hope they are all OK. Maybe she's just not a good mom, maybe she senses some weakness in them and is doing what is natural by trying to drive them away to save the others (weak or sick birds draw predators). I would keep a close eye to make sure there is nothing else going on with them, hopefully not.

 

[marque]

They're great! Every one of them is running around with no problems. I have their cage up on a raised box with a 7" flat space beside it where the mama stays. Summer in SE Texas so we don't need a heat lamp. I put their food bowl in the corner near mom, then I put food down for mom next to it so she starts chirping and the babies run to their bowl and eat. Mama is happy and babies are happy.
Now, since we're having massive rains, I have water sitting everywhere with bacteria growing.
....on to the next chicken problem.

 

[coach723]

Thanks for the update, glad things are going well, except for the rain!