Possible sick chick

[twinflower2]

Approx 1 week old Silver Laced Polish chick. Seems to have difficulty balancing when walking. Mostly lays on one side partially, sits on hocks when heating and drinking. Also seems to have stalled in feather development. Its brooder mate (a crested cream legbar) of similar age is much further along in feather development- especially considering I’m pretty sure it’s a rooster.

 

[boskelli1571]

Approx 1 week old Silver Laced Polish chick. Seems to have difficulty balancing when walking. Mostly lays on one side partially, sits on hocks when heating and drinking. Also seems to have stalled in feather development. Its brooder mate (a crested cream legbar) of similar age is much further along in feather development- especially considering I’m pretty sure it’s a rooster.

There are a few things that could be going on here.
The balance may be due to a vitamin deficiency - are you giving something like Chick-Savr in the water? It may help.
Resting on it's side - is there any deformity that you can see, can the chick walk normally - more details please, vid. would be helpful.
If it's a 'runty' it may take longer than others to continue with development. Make sure it is getting all the food/water it needs and is not being bullied away from food.

 

[NatalieP]

Sounds like my cream legbar. Is it walking still? Is the crop full?

Someone recommended PolyViSol (no iron) which might be helpful.

 

[SE WA Guy]

I have a baby Delaware chick that had the exact same symptoms as you're describing. Could walk ok in stretches, but soon started to wobble a bit, and when it laid down, it kind of 'flopped' to one side.

I considered taking it out of the general population and giving it some time, but none of the chickens aggressively attacked it for being weak, and the chick still wanted to be social - and as you know, the noise they make when they can't see their other chicks is funny when the chicks are just around the corner, but it's kinda heartbreaking when they're truly isolated.

We keep two water sources in the pen, one for just plain water, the other is a vitamin water. So to make sure the chick had the best chance, we put both water sources with vitamins for a week and it seems to have actually worked. I checked on the group last night and the chick was up and running, full speed, with the rest of the pack. No wobbles, no flopping.

Not every case is handled so easily, we did lose one chick early this spring - it just didn't seem to thrive like the rest and passed away. But sometimes a simple fix is all that's needed. Good luck to you.

 

[twinflower2]

There are a few things that could be going on here.
The balance may be due to a vitamin deficiency - are you giving something like Chick-Savr in the water? It may help.
Resting on it's side - is there any deformity that you can see, can the chick walk normally - more details please, vid. would be helpful.
If it's a 'runty' it may take longer than others to continue with development. Make sure it is getting all the food/water it needs and is not being bullied away from food.

I put a life-lyte tablet in their water. She isn’t being bullied away from the food, I only have one other chick. Another update since I wrote last- I started with three chicks, one of them passed suddenly. I’m suspicious of coccidiosis, although I have not seen any bloody stools in their brooder all week. I can’t post a video but I can post a picture. I haven’t noticed any deformity to the legs and feet. Wings have developed some But not much as compared to her companion. (She’s the great big grey and black fluff)

 

[twinflower2]

She doesn’t hobble necessarily, but it does seem like she takes big lurching steps and then sits on her hocks

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Where did the chicks come from?
Can you look at both their legs?

 

[twinflower2]

The eggs came from Green Fire Farms and were hatched by a local who shows chickens on a small scale. I’ll try and get a better picture of her legs

 

[twinflower2]

Here are some more pics of her legs.

 

[twinflower2]

I figured the large bumps on the back of her legs were similar to the bumps large dogs get on their elbows.