Suddenly Sick Chick

[Rubyfalls]

This is my first year hatching chicks. We hatched our own eggs from our current flock. They are about 2 and a half weeks old. Yesterday, suddenly, one of our black sex-links would not move and had one leg forward and one leg back. His wings also seemed to be out of place. He shows no signs of pasty butt, and seems to be able to eat and drink.

I researched a few things and found that he is probably too young to be showing signs of Marek's. I found some saying it could be a riboflavin deficiency. He was given access to electrolyte water and mushrooms (recommended in the riboflavin post). This morning he seemed even more lethargic. His eyes were closed but he was still breathing.

None of the other chicks are showing any signs of slowing down, but his issue was extremely sudden, so I won't assume they are all perfectly fine.

I hope this is enough info. Has anyone experienced this before or found a similar situation? I do not expect him to be alive when I get home from work, but maybe I can prevent the issue from happening to others.

Thanks

 

[Eggcessive]

I would probably give him a poultry multivitamin in the water or PolyVisol without iron infant vitamin 2-3 drops by mouth daily, unless your electrolyte solution has vitamins. He may have either a vitamin or mineral deficiency, or neurological symptoms for unknown reasons. Are your parent stock birds vaccinated for Mareks? I agree that he should be too young for Mareks symptoms, but they can show them after 3 weeks I believe, although it's more common later. If your older birds were not vaccinated for Mareks, I would think you would have seen it before if it's in your environment.

 

[Rubyfalls]

I believe that half of them were and half weren't. A few were from Tractor Supply and a few were from a local backyard breeder. If he is alive when I get home, I will try to get him some vitamins, otherwise I will check more closely for symptoms in the others. Thanks for the help.