We have an ailing chick and don't really know how to help it. One of our three-and-a-half week old barred rock chicks won't get up. It was being trampled by the rest of the chicks, so we moved it to its own cage with a heat lamp and its own water and food source. Right now it's shivering and looking wide-eyed,occasionally peeping loudly. It's lying on its side with a wing outstretched; its legs are quivering, clenched up, and sticking out to the side; the toes are curled up. From time to time it frantically scuffles across the newspaper.
Any insights about what the chick might be suffering from? What--if anything--can we do to help?
Thanks
chick is shivering, won't get up
sounds liek it can't get up and is hurting? did you check it for pecking wounds or a leg problem?
waiting to help...
tf
well, it doesn't seem like there are any pecking wounds. But the legs are stiff and the toes are still curled over--as if the legs are paralyzed.
i IMd somebody more qualified to come help. now i will call her...
they are so big at three and a half weeks, there has to be a reason it was trmapled... i called and left her a voice mail. very sorry that i am no help, but hang in there and somebody will come along.
do you have any ointment you could masasage into one of the legs to see if that helps? otherwise this sounds like it could be a seiazure, maybe it hit its head flying up to something like a roost...
can you hold it?
tf
We were just away from the house for a while...before I left I did hold it, and its legs weren't actually rigid. I could straighten them out, but when I let go the toes curled back.
There isn't any roost in their enclosure; if it hit its head on anything it was probably the water dispenser.
I put some honey in the water (as recommended in another forum with a similar scenario) to make it easier for the chick to get calories --I can't tell if it's been eating or drinking.
Right now it's just languishing on its side...
an update:
I propped the chick up with some straw so it won't topple over, and positioned the food directly in front: now it's eating voraciously.
So, to clarify the issue: it seems like its legs just can't support it or it has a problem with balancing.
It was able to stand, and its toe even uncurled, when i supported both sides. When I let go, it just fell over sideways.
Other than this aspect, the chick seems more energetic than it did this morning.
By the way, thanks for your input everyone!
thanks for the update. a balance problem could be it's wings... hopefully not a head injury then. poor thing, and poor you. hope he is OK. this forum has not exactly had folks here today [it's so nice i should be outside instead of doing paperwork!], but there are always answers in these threads if you know where and how to search...
Hi mashmella, sorry to hear about your chick. I've been following, but don't know what to suggest. Did you hatch it out yourself or is it from a hatchery? How soon did it develope symptoms? Did you notice it having problems with balance earlier or did it just seem to collapse?
hoping for an update soon...
Marek's can cause leg paralysis. It is a herpetic
infection of nerves. I would like to know myself, where
did the chick come from? Marek's is not usually a
problem in small flocks, but can plague large hatcheries.
It is also highly contageous. Make sure it is kept very
well away from your other chicks, and give us updates,
please?
I found my roo Davey under the house one day, just
standing there all stiff- when I tried to use a stick to try
to guide him out, and I touched him with it, he just fell
over stiff legged, and once off his feet, they curled.
He seemed to be in shock, and didn't want to eat or
drink. I put him in a pen by himself, and put water down
his gullet for him every hour. I thought for sure he would
be dead the next morning, but he was fine and walking
and wanted out of the pen in the worst way! He has been
fine since, and no recurrence. I will never know what it
was. I hope your chick makes it.
I was told to make sweet water (like you already have) and add it to a mashed hard-boiled egg to make a thick liquid...I hand fed with a eye dropper until she was stronger and the shaking stopped. Isolation of course until the problem is id'd and lots of prayer I guess at this point. It almost sounds like she is in pain and I do not know how to help that. Keep us updated.
Jeri of Sandbox Farm in Wisconsin