WHY WOULD A 4 WK CHICK HAVE TROUBLE WALKING?

by Maria Mccloud
(long beach ca.)

Chick is 4 weeks, scraggled feathers, tips foward. It has been vacinated for meriks. Why is it tipping foward and unsteady on its feet? It is alert.

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by: Sharon

I wish I could tell you exactly why this is happening, but there is too little information, no photo, so best we can do is give you a few ideas.

How long have you had the chick? Do you have others from the same clutch or supplier with no issues? Does it seem to be getting worse, or about the same?

A number of problems could cause this: Vision, and ear problems, an injury to the spine or brain, possibly an over full or impacted crop adding weight & causing balance issues, foot or leg problems, possibly toxin, dehydration or an illness.

This chick should be in its own brooder with easy access to food and water - but use caution & don't have a very deep dish for water, as the chick could stumble, possibly drown or become chilled.

Check the crop for good texture - contents should be a bit mushy, not hard or lumpy. Check droppings to make sure they are passing, not too loose or solid. Vitamins & electrolytes for chicks might help, if this just a simple problem. Make sure the chick is eating and drinking.

Sometimes a chick eats some shavings that will cause crop problems. Any symptoms you can find, try to treat those. This chick may have hatched with problems and is unable to thrive.

Usually so many things go right with chicks, but sometimes one or a few will have problems and there's not much you can do to find out why or reverse the problem.

Since what they do most at this age is eat, drink and rest, I would suspect a digestive issue first.

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