New chick bow legged?

[jzervas92]

Hi everyone, I just got my new order of chicks in the mail this morning! Only one died, but I have one that was extremely weak. After a couple of hours she is doing so much better, but I don't like how she sits on her legs. When she sits she spreads them out, and when she walks she's a little wobbly. She's eating and drinking with no problem, but I just wanted to make sure this isn't a serious issue. I got an assortment of breeds and I believe she is the free exotic chick not sure though. Even though its to early feel free to take a guess about her breed, because I have no idea what she could be!

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Hmm just to be safe I'd give them vitamins in the water...they sell poultry vits at the feed store. Riboflavin deficiency can cause them to go down on their hocks but also causes curled toes so I am not sure that is the problem here.http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/pou..._poultry/vitamin_deficiencies_in_poultry.html
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/6/diseases-of-poultry/217/vitamin-b2-deficiency

If the chick can walk with legs together as normal then it wouldn't be considered spraddle leg (spraddle leg needs treatment by binding the legs together as shown within the first few days of life):
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKRaisingChicks.html


https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry

I hope this helps!

(Of course maybe the little one is just a little weak from shipping and will recover spontaneously.)

If your chicks are super stressed you may want to look up the sugar water recipe for stressed chicks:
http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/chickcare.html
there is a super stressed recipe down the page

 

[jzervas92]

Thanks for the information it was very helpful! I think I'm leaning towards spraddle legs. She's walking a lot better but she still sits odd. I might give her another day to heal up from the stress.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Thanks for the information it was very helpful! I think I'm leaning towards spraddle legs. She's walking a lot better but she still sits odd. I might give her another day to heal up from the stress.

Yes shipping can be very hard on them!