I have a marans roo - about 19-20 weeks old and I'm just a little concerned about him.
He had a very rough time when he was little, just really struggled along until about 8-10 weeks, I actually expected to find him dead every morning. Once they moved out of the brooder and into the coop, he started looking much better.
Now, he's a happy, shiny, crowing, little bully of a guy (not to me, just to the chickens).
My concern is how he sits. When he's eating, he will sit down on his hocks - I guess that's what they're called in chickens (?). He has no weight on his feet and is balancing on his hocks. His feet will actually curl up and if he teeters and looses his balance a little they will fly open - but still not press on the ground as if holding weight.
I've looked at his feet, examined them for sore spots, cuts, bruising - squished the pads to see if he reacts - flexed his toes - tried to tickle but he was not impressed.
So - is this a normal chicken thing?? Something I should be concerned about?? A sign of his eminent doom??
I thought that maybe his early trouble might have left him with a little 'deficiency' of some sort???
He had a very rough time when he was little, just really struggled along until about 8-10 weeks, I actually expected to find him dead every morning. Once they moved out of the brooder and into the coop, he started looking much better.
Now, he's a happy, shiny, crowing, little bully of a guy (not to me, just to the chickens).
My concern is how he sits. When he's eating, he will sit down on his hocks - I guess that's what they're called in chickens (?). He has no weight on his feet and is balancing on his hocks. His feet will actually curl up and if he teeters and looses his balance a little they will fly open - but still not press on the ground as if holding weight.
I've looked at his feet, examined them for sore spots, cuts, bruising - squished the pads to see if he reacts - flexed his toes - tried to tickle but he was not impressed.
So - is this a normal chicken thing?? Something I should be concerned about?? A sign of his eminent doom??
I thought that maybe his early trouble might have left him with a little 'deficiency' of some sort???
