4wk old chick won't stand

New to posting but have been reading others posts here several weeks. The problem is I have a 4wk old chick that can't stand. I went to check on them and noticed this one in the corner laying down. I took it out and set it on the floor but all it does is rear back on its butt and fall over. Does anyone have an idea what could be wrong? I have separated it from the rest.

Maybe a little background info on the source, breed, etc. of the bird might help? Pics? What are you feeding and what kind of housing, bedding, etc? This could be a variety of things and sometimes you will never know what causes it but it helps to examine the environment of the bird to see if it is preventable in the future or can be rectified now.

The chick is a white rock. It is in a starter coop (approx 3x4). Up until a week ago I was using pine shavings. I was told that once they got big enough that their feet would not go through the mesh to just put the shavings in the tray under the mesh to make clean up easier. So that's what I've been doing for the past week. They are on dumore chick starter feed from tractor supply, also where the chicks are from. The other 5 chicks in the coop are acting normal. The water gets changed or refilled every other day and so does the pine shavings. When I noticed the chick laying in the corner I took it out and set it on the floor, it just puffed its feathers, reared up onto its butt and then fell to the side. If I try to get it to stand it just does the same thing. I have isolated the chick and put it in its own container with pine shavings, water, feed , and made sure it still had exposure to the heat light. Still acting the same as of now. Seems real lethargic. Hope that helps.

Was that medicated starter? If so, it can inhibit the uptake of B vitamins for some birds, so laying off the medicated feeds and giving vitamins in the water...apple cider will work...might help. Usually, though, I use the rule of thumb that if the nutrition given is well received by most of the flock but not by one bird, in particular, then that bird is a natural cull.


Can you post a pic of this bird?

Side note...lethargy and puffing of the feathers is like a death knell for chickens. You may never find the cause but if the other chicks start to exhibit similar symptoms, you may want to explore all the various poultry diseases.

The chick starter is not medicated. I finally spoke with someone who has experience with white rocks and he stated it was possible that its legs could have broke due to its size from being bred for maximum size. I did take a stool sample to my local vet just to make sure there is no viral or bacterial thing going on. I really appreciate you taking an interest Jay and trying to help. I'll keep you posted when I get the vet results back.

Sorry Jay I keep forgetting about the pics. Here are two of the chick.

One of the pics didn't load for some reason.

Your friend is wrong...White Rocks are not bred for maximum size~the breed has been large since the beginning and has not been "bred up" to a certain size. As such, they do not normally have leg problems or growth issues. White Rock is a variety of the Plymouth Rock breed and have the legs to support their large frame, so are not prone to leg issues at all. They are my favorite breed and I'm very familiar with their growth and characteristics.

Now, Cornish Cross chickens might be accused of having leg problems due to quick growth but this one is hardly large enough to have leg problems just yet. Yours appears to be a CX, instead of a White Rock...sometimes people refer to them as White Rock Cross but they are not anything close to being a White Rock bird. If it is a CX, it is small for 4 wks, so I'm thinking quick growth is not the issue.

This is a pic of a 4 wk CX that has been free ranged and not fed unlimited feeds and he still appears bigger than yours, so I doubt leg issues are the problem.



The legs don't appear to be broken...that would be easy to ascertain by a simple palpation of the bones and joints.

Here's a pic of a bird with Mareks but it is usually asymmetrical in the leg paralysis...this one looks eerily like the positioning of your bird. Does your bird seem to have trouble breathing? Any diarrhea?



I'm sorry I couldn't be more help as I've never had illness in my flocks these many years, so have not had experience with diagnosing diseases, but there are thousands of folks on BYC (BackyardChickens.com) who have experience with poultry illnesses and can probably help you more with this.

Thanks anyhow. That pic does look a lot like the positioning of my chick. I will have to look into mareks. Bets office did call back and say they found no problems with the stool sample. The chicks stools seem to be normal. I'll check out the other site also. Thanks again.

Let us know what happens? Could be educational for others who might experience the same issues.

Will do.