I currently have a 17wk old BO rooster. He is approx. 4 pounds. He's definately smaller than his brother. His brother, Scott, seems to have gone through a growth spurt in the last couple of days.
We recently built a new coop, 16'x8', about a month ago and moved the flock in. We have perches at about 2ft, 4ft, 6ft, and 8ft., staggered. Since then, it seems "Burt" has trouble with his hips. There has not been any sign of trauma or bleeding. We've been feeding them laying crumbles with black oil sunflower seeds mixed in. When he lays down, whether it be on a perch high up or flat on the ground, when he gets up he walks like a penguin. When I pick him up it feels like his hips are out of place. My kids can pick him up and fix him. But I can't. I have noticed that, when he is "penguin", he spends a lot of time under our outbuilding-in the shade. Even when everyone else is out foraging. As far as his poop...it looks fine. It could be a little bit on the runny side, but nothing out of the ordinary.
We live in a small town, I don't think there are any vets that will treat chickens. My husband currently wants to "cull" him. The kids and I are really not wanting to do this. Does this sound like it could be Marecks or some kind of deficiancy? We have raised him from a baby chick. Has anyone else out there had to deal with this? If it's Marecks I can understand "culling" but if it's something else I'd rather help and possibly "fix" it. I tried to answer the questions in the "sticky" at the top. If I forgot something...please ask. I'll be glad to answer.
Thanks in advance for any help you all may have.
We recently built a new coop, 16'x8', about a month ago and moved the flock in. We have perches at about 2ft, 4ft, 6ft, and 8ft., staggered. Since then, it seems "Burt" has trouble with his hips. There has not been any sign of trauma or bleeding. We've been feeding them laying crumbles with black oil sunflower seeds mixed in. When he lays down, whether it be on a perch high up or flat on the ground, when he gets up he walks like a penguin. When I pick him up it feels like his hips are out of place. My kids can pick him up and fix him. But I can't. I have noticed that, when he is "penguin", he spends a lot of time under our outbuilding-in the shade. Even when everyone else is out foraging. As far as his poop...it looks fine. It could be a little bit on the runny side, but nothing out of the ordinary.
We live in a small town, I don't think there are any vets that will treat chickens. My husband currently wants to "cull" him. The kids and I are really not wanting to do this. Does this sound like it could be Marecks or some kind of deficiancy? We have raised him from a baby chick. Has anyone else out there had to deal with this? If it's Marecks I can understand "culling" but if it's something else I'd rather help and possibly "fix" it. I tried to answer the questions in the "sticky" at the top. If I forgot something...please ask. I'll be glad to answer.
Thanks in advance for any help you all may have.
