Sick chick. Is there hope?

[TheAmundsons]

Hi all! We got chicks from Murray McMurray that were born roughly May 1. That makes them about 9 weeks old. We noticed about 3 weeks ago that one of our cockerels was laying down a lot, and would stumble when it walked. We had had this issue with another chick a few weeks before, and were told to start giving Corid because it was probably coccidiosis. That worked well, and quickly, with the first chick, but it’s now been 3 weeks that we’ve tried a few different things to help this chick. We’ve had him in our laundry room for the past week so we could keep a super close eye on him, and he has only drastically gotten worse over time. He has no other symptoms that not being able to stand/sit. He just falls over and lays on his side. He still eats/drinks/poops like he should, his legs just don’t seem to want to work. Our question is: is it time to cull? We don’t really want him in the laundry room anymore, and he’s only deteriorating, so we’re thinking that’s the case. Just thought I’d ask on here to see if anyone had any last ditch effort suggestions. We’re really bummed because he was going to be the boyfriend to our favorite lady!

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

If you’re just raising for production and breeding then I would cull. If it’s a pet then it is up to you but I can get some others opinions on this as well.

@aart @casportpony @007Sean

 

[TheAmundsons]

Thanks for the input! We have them mostly for eggs/food, but we don’t think we’d eat this one since it’s sick and we don’t know exactly what the issue is. Some else have suggestions for things to try before giving up?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

9 weeks old. We noticed about 3 weeks ago that one of our cockerels was laying down a lot, and would stumble when it walked. We had had this issue with another chick a few weeks before, and were told to start giving Corid because it was probably coccidiosis. That worked well, and quickly, with the first chick, but it’s now been 3 weeks that we’ve tried a few different things to help this chick.

We’ve had him in our laundry room for the past week so we could keep a super close eye on him, and he has only drastically gotten worse over time. He has no other symptoms that not being able to stand/sit. He just falls over and lays on his side. He still eats/drinks/poops like he should, his legs just don’t seem to want to work.

You mention that you have tried a few different things - what did you try?

At 9 weeks and the symptoms you describe, if you treated for Coccidiosis, applied vitamin therapy (not at the same time), he's been eating chick starter and he's still in a state of decline, then I would take a guess that he may be suffering from Marek's disease.