Walking on knees

[RowlenAcres]

hello everyone,
I have a marans chick 12-14 weeks old who I just noticed today is walking on her knees. She and another chick from the same batch have never acted normal since the day I bought them home. I posted about them when they were 5-6 weeks old that they weren't very active and the general consensus was that they were fine. Now I see them both panting when the other chicks are not and neither of them will leave the coop. I never see them eat or drink, but clearly they are since they are still alive. Now one of them is walking on her knees. She holds her wings out for balance but still falls over. I read to add vitamin B, so I did that a few minutes ago. Any other ideas?

 

[LaFleche]

This could be a calcium deficiency which happens quite often around this age when their legs "suddenly" suffer from a growth spurt.

You could add a supplement with calcium, vitamin D and vitamin K to their water which should help within a few days.

When did you last de-worm the chicks?

 

[RowlenAcres]

This could be a calcium deficiency which happens quite often around this age when their legs "suddenly" suffer from a growth spurt.

You could add a supplement with calcium, vitamin D and vitamin K to their water which should help within a few days.

When did you last de-worm the chicks?

They were wormed in early April, but they've been free ranging since.

 

[LaFleche]

They were wormed in early April, but they've been free ranging since.

Did you inspect the coop for poultry mites? Best done at night using a headlamp.
And did you inspect the Marans for lice or mites?
Poultry mites can harm them quite severely by sucking their blood at night which will leave the chickens weak and listless.

 

[RowlenAcres]

I did check for mites but I did not see any signs of them

 

[LaFleche]

She and another chick from the same batch have never acted normal since the day I bought them home.

Well - since you already stated that they never acted normal there might have already been deficiencies right from the start or even caused by malnourishment of the parent birds.

But I would try the calcium supplement with vitamin D and vitamin K.