- Jul 15, 2012
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Hi, I'm new here and new to chickens. We have four chicks that are three weeks old. Two days ago we saw that one has started to spend a lot of time sitting and isn't as active as the others. We checked her out and her legs don't look right. It appears that one is twisted to the outside, although when we pick her up and let her legs dangle, sometimes they both look like they're twisting outward. When I look at her standing on something, she puts her weight on her right leg and lets the left one twist out, although I have definitely seen her standing on both feet and getting her food and water, she doesn't seem to want to spend much time that way.
She's a Delaware, three weeks old, weighs about 4 oz. She's the smallest of the four, by about an ounce. She's alert, eating and drinking okay, although I don't know if she might be eating/drinking less than she should because of difficulty getting around. When I try holding her and giving her access to food and water, she eats/drinks a bit, but not like she's starving. She did go to town on some grit, though.
None of the other chicks is showing problems. I think she may have injured herself, rather than it being a growth/nutritional problem, but we have added a vitamin supplement to the water - Nutri-Drench is the brand we're using. I have read some about using a chick chair or sling, or splinting with a bendy drinking straw, but want to find out if y'all think that we're addressing the right problem and if you can direct me to a source with pics or videos on how to do that.
All the chicks were vaccinated against Marek's, and I think she's too young for that to be showing up, anyway.
If we can fix this, we want to do that before going to culling. We're only allowed 4 hens in our town, so she's 1/4 of our potential egg production. Culling her now would mean coming up with a way to add a fourth hen to the flock down the line, and I'm pretty wary of introducing problems with new birds. Plus, at the age they are now, I'm not sure if we could introduce a new chick, or if it would be better to bring in an older hen.
In case it's relevant, the others are one each Salmon Faverolles, Buff Orpington, and Silver-laced Wyandotte. They don't appear to be pecking the injured/sick bird or picking on her at all. In fact, they snuggle up with her. It may be a little early for the pecking order shenanigans to begin, though, so I don't know how they'll be if she's limping when they get older.
She's a Delaware, three weeks old, weighs about 4 oz. She's the smallest of the four, by about an ounce. She's alert, eating and drinking okay, although I don't know if she might be eating/drinking less than she should because of difficulty getting around. When I try holding her and giving her access to food and water, she eats/drinks a bit, but not like she's starving. She did go to town on some grit, though.
None of the other chicks is showing problems. I think she may have injured herself, rather than it being a growth/nutritional problem, but we have added a vitamin supplement to the water - Nutri-Drench is the brand we're using. I have read some about using a chick chair or sling, or splinting with a bendy drinking straw, but want to find out if y'all think that we're addressing the right problem and if you can direct me to a source with pics or videos on how to do that.
All the chicks were vaccinated against Marek's, and I think she's too young for that to be showing up, anyway.
If we can fix this, we want to do that before going to culling. We're only allowed 4 hens in our town, so she's 1/4 of our potential egg production. Culling her now would mean coming up with a way to add a fourth hen to the flock down the line, and I'm pretty wary of introducing problems with new birds. Plus, at the age they are now, I'm not sure if we could introduce a new chick, or if it would be better to bring in an older hen.
In case it's relevant, the others are one each Salmon Faverolles, Buff Orpington, and Silver-laced Wyandotte. They don't appear to be pecking the injured/sick bird or picking on her at all. In fact, they snuggle up with her. It may be a little early for the pecking order shenanigans to begin, though, so I don't know how they'll be if she's limping when they get older.
