Young Chicken Sitting and Walking Stiff

[Mistyridgechickens]

Hi all, I have a bluebell pullet who hatched in late May of this year, and she’s started acting strange. She has not started laying yet. Normally she’s very high energy and zoomie, but for the past three days she has been walking around some but mostly just wanting to sit in grass or a soft patch of dirt. She’s been drinking well and eating very well, and she’s been very vocal, possibly more than usual. Today she’s started walking a little stiffly, but I haven’t noticed a problem in a particular leg. Her feet look fine. Since this started I’ve been treating her with corid cuz the first day she seemed kinda sleepy, and now she seems to be staying awake more, but still just sitting a lot. She had one sort of loose poop, but several normal ones after that. I put some extra padding in the nesting box (she has one flock mate who’s laying), and when I showed it to her she went in right away and seemed like she was really comfortable, ‘cause she stayed there for a while. Also, a lot of the time when she’s sitting outside she’ll eat plants she can reach and dig in the dirt with her beak, and I’ve seen her do a scratch or two of a dust bath. So far I have not seen any mites or lice on her. I’m obviously super worried about Marek’s with the walking. Are there other things it could be? She’s on a good food, but I guess there could still be a vitamin deficiency if she isn’t absorbing it enough. Could it be that her body is adjusting to getting ready to lay and it’s hurting her hips or something? Sorry this is so long, I just really love her and really want her to be okay. I don’t have pictures right now but I can post some tomorrow morning if it would be helpful. Thanks for any help!!

 

[nuthatched]

What did you give you corid for specifically?
Stop the corid, it makes vitamin deficiency worse if she has it.
What's her diet? She may be working on an egg and it's stuck or slow.

 

[Mistyridgechickens]

What did you give you corid for specifically?
Stop the corid, it makes vitamin deficiency worse if she has it.
What's her diet? She may be working on an egg and it's stuck or slow

At first it seemed like coccidiosis with her just wanting to rest and seeming sleepy. I didn’t know that about the vitamin deficiency, thanks! She gets Purina start and grow non-medicated crumbles, occasional (not everyday) treats such as cooked eggs, vegetables, fruit, and grubs/worms, as well as whatever she forages during free range time (usually 1-2 hours a day). Do you think she could use a calcium boost if she’s working on an egg? I have oyster shells or eggshells I could give her, plus a liquid calcium supplement.

 

[nuthatched]

At first it seemed like coccidiosis with her just wanting to rest and seeming sleepy. I didn’t know that about the vitamin deficiency, thanks! She gets Purina start and grow non-medicated crumbles, occasional (not everyday) treats such as cooked eggs, vegetables, fruit, and grubs/worms, as well as whatever she forages during free range time (usually 1-2 hours a day). Do you think she could use a calcium boost if she’s working on an egg? I have oyster shells or eggshells I could give her, plus a liquid calcium supplement.

I'd definitely work on the calcium supplements right now. It will help contractions if she's got one in the works

 

[feather16]

To kind of piggy back off your post, are your pullets wings a touch droopy as well? My 6yr old hen is acting the same way. She’ll walk fine, but would rather sit on her hocks. But I do notice my girls wings look more relaxed, if that makes sense. I was thinking maybe some sort of vitamin B or calcium deficiency. I have 4mo chicks, so I’ve had them on complete flock feed with a separate bowl of oyster shell. Maybe my hen hasn’t been eating it on her own?

Hope you don’t mind me jumping in too, I didn’t want to start a new thread since yours sounded mostly similar to my girl

 

[Mistyridgechickens]

No worries! I’d say possibility a little droopy, though she was also holding them away from her body a little because it was a bit hot today. I hope your hen feels better soon!

 

[Mistyridgechickens]

To kind of piggy back off your post, are your pullets wings a touch droopy as well? My 6yr old hen is acting the same way. She’ll walk fine, but would rather sit on her hocks. But I do notice my girls wings look more relaxed, if that makes sense. I was thinking maybe some sort of vitamin B or calcium deficiency. I have 4mo chicks, so I’ve had them on complete flock feed with a separate bowl of oyster shell. Maybe my hen hasn’t been eating it on her own?

Hope you don’t mind me jumping in too, I didn’t want to start a new thread since yours sounded mostly similar to my girl

Hey, just wanted to give an update since you said your hen seemed to be in a similar position - ours looks like it was a vitamin b deficiency. We gave her one ml of the rooster booster b12 supplement last night, and then in the morning she wasn’t 100%, but she was definitely able to stand up for longer and was walking better, plus holding her tail up whereas before it was dropping. We gave her about a quarter of a B complex pill dissolved in water then (she seemed to like it put into her food), and when we checked on her after I got off work tonight she definitely seemed perkier, even though we were interrupting her sleep we have her some more of each supplement with a syringe since she won’t eat at night, so I’m hoping she’s a great deal better by morning. I hope this helps!

 

[CassiM]

Hi! I am wondering the outcome of the possibly puny chickies. I have a young Brahma hen (pullet? Sorry, idk proper terminology) not yet laying. Hatched mid May. She lives with 7 other young ladies same age and she has suddenly started isolating herself amd laying in weird spots. Laying kind of tilted to o e side and her butt sticking up. Eating and drinking fine. Poopimg alright. Im a new chicken keeper and dont know what to look for or what to do for her. Any help is greatly appreciated!!

 

[Mistyridgechickens]

Hi! I am wondering the outcome of the possibly puny chickies. I have a young Brahma hen (pullet? Sorry, idk proper terminology) not yet laying. Hatched mid May. She lives with 7 other young ladies same age and she has suddenly started isolating herself amd laying in weird spots. Laying kind of tilted to o e side and her butt sticking up. Eating and drinking fine. Poopimg alright. Im a new chicken keeper and dont know what to look for or what to do for her. Any help is greatly appreciated!!

Hi! I can only give personal advice, but giving my girl a vitamin b complex definitely helped her a lot! I think she was getting pushed out of the food and she was getting weak, so making sure she got her own dedicated food time helped. Also another thing I noticed (I think because she was sitting so much) was her toenails got really long and curved, which was messing with her walking. I trimmed them some and it definitely helped, but I think I need to do a bit more for her to be 100%. Let me know if you want to know how exactly I gave her the vitamins. I hope your chickie is alright!