sick barred rock

addicted2chics

In the Brooder
6 Years
Jul 3, 2013
54
1
41
I have a barred rock, approx 3 weeks old. He is in a little pen with 5 other chics the same age. About 3 or 4 days ago it started acting funny. Its like he has lost control of his body. His legs are spread straight apart and its like his head has spasms. His head shakes back and forth real fast for 4 or 5 seconds then stops for a minute or so then does it again. He is still eating and drinking when he can stand up to do it.

Any ideas?
 
Sorry you haven't gotten an answer. Just from what I've read, you might read up on Marek's disease. Sometimes vitamins seems to help.
 
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It does sound like Marek's.

Some folks have had great results from using homeopathic Hypericum Perforatum (St John's Wort) and Curcumin and a few other things. Since I've heard of nothing much else having an impact, if I get a case of Marek's again I'll be trying that.
Quote: Best wishes.
 
Thanks alot. We will start treatment with sjw tonight. From what i have read on the link above, it cant hurt. Thanks again for the info.
 
I have been treating with st johns wart for the last 5 or 6 days. Have not seen any change. Did notice today that his feet were curled instead of being out straight.
 
Has he got one leg out in front and one behind?

About the Hypericum, it did take a few days for at least one person who used it. But your chook may not have Marek's. I don't know what though. Many things can cause neurological damage. If you take a very long look at him and record any symptoms you can see, like poop type and anything else, then do a search on them, you might find something.

Some sites have "poultry disease charts" which have multiple diseases listed by symptoms, so you can quickly sort out what it isn't. Googling or searching the term "poultry disease chart" ought to find you something.

Best wishes.
 
I would be giving him vitamins, since vitamin deficiency is a major cause of leg and foot problems in chicks. Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) is very important. Also for neurologic problems Vitamin B1, E, and selenium are good. I would either use chick vitamins in the water or give him Polyvisol without iron 2 drops a day by mouth.
 
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Thanks eggcessive and chooks4life. I will search for diseases and start vitamins. I dont guess vitamins will hurt no matter whats wrong.

I know alot of people would think I were crazy for putting the time, energy and money into just one chick. The thing is, if I can find out whats wrong with it and save it, the next time I see it I will have an idea what to do. So I dont consider it to be just one chick. Does that sound crazy?
 
Quote: Absolutely not. That is, in fact, almost verbatim for my stance on it. The future cases validate the current case in most instances. The "cull and replace" method of dealing with illness or injury doesn't actually cut your losses as much as it may seem, because there is still the cost of raising replacements to consider. Also, immunity is often an undervalued necessity in this day and age of closing borders and culling entire populations to control disease. People are culling for the equivalent of the common cold, so they just replace with more weak stock and hope they don't catch it again; it's wiser in many cases to support the development of natural immunity instead of cull, and breed on with the stronger stock.

It's difficult as you learn but once you gain experience, you will be able to save animals that are being put down for the equivalent of a stubbed toe... You'll also be able to save cases so bad people will basically demand you put the animals out of their misery. (The misery in question is usually the human's. As long as an animal is willing to fight for its life there is a very good chance. I've saved many animals that looked like lost causes; quite often it's not as bad as it looks, and the cases that don't look so bad are often the real bad ones).

It's one thing to cull an animal that's ill or injured because you don't think you'll ever want to breed that specific individual. After all it will never "pay its way" if you treat it, as they say. It seems logical. But my reasoning on going the extra mile and learning how to fix rather than cull is that what happens when the injured or ill animal is the irreplaceable culmination of your years of careful breeding? Cull, because that's all you ever bothered to learn? Or what if it's a pet? Much of what you learn for any species' health applies to some extent to other species.

I could have lost some of my best animals so many times over if I'd given up. If you don't try, you'll never know. Sometimes there will be failures to save an animal, and it sure doesn't feel encouraging when that happens, but if you educate yourself and persist, you'll save far more animals than you'll lose. I've obtained some of the greatest animals I've ever known because they'd ended up special needs somehow or another, through no fault of their own... I got them as rejects and they have more than paid their way, over and over again. Totally worth it in every way, for me.

Best wishes.
 

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