3 Week Old Chick Walks Cross-Legged, Staggers, Uses Wings for Balance, Bald Butt.

[Free Range Love]

Hey there! New to the community, I've browsed the forums all night yesterday and decided to sign up. I need help please!

Bought 4 chicks at 2 weeks old, now they are getting to 3 weeks. They are production reds - Rhode Island x New Hampshire. Did not even ask if they were vaccinated. Since I'm new I didn't look at the chicks either for problems when picking them out, so did not notice that one came with a bald butt. Unsure if it was pasty or not, I still gave it baths and put neosporin on it.

But just yesterday it started having real balance problems. We thought that it held its wings slightly dropped because it was covering it's bald butt, but it started walking completely cross-legged. Instead of Splay Leg, the legs are too close together, stepping on each other as she walks. She uses her wings for balance, and today, she lays down a lot.

I don't know if she walked this badly before, we never noticed it, but it's extremely noticeable now. She can still get to food and drink but last night, while she was in the bin with others she started chirping very loudly, which made me notice. Today I am keeping her isolated (alone) to get rest from others, not to be bothered and also to focus on eating. I added a drop of apple cider vinegar in her water.

I could post a picture if the site allows that or I could post a link to the picture or upload a video on youtube if you'd like to see it in detail. Does anyone know what this could be? Also, I don't know if fixing her legs at this point is too late or not - but the 'bandaid' method won't help, she would need an actual stick or something to hold her legs -apart- instead of together. Could anyone offer suggestions to what I could do? We are feeding her Nature Wise chick starter medicated grower 18% Crumble. Today I added some finely chopped zuchini.

 

[Kiki]

Post a video of her on youtube then link the video here.

 

[Free Range Love]

Thanks for the reply, here you are:

She actually flapped her wings less there, she seems to do worse in straw, and any surface that is not even/horizontal, though you can see her lose her balance a few times and just tilt from side to side as she walks She poops just fine even though her butt looks funky, even if I wash it her vent seems to have poop on it at all times. Her poop is normal colored.

 

[Kiki]

Do you have poultry vitamins on hand?

 

[Kiki]

https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry

 

[Kiki]

@Eggcessive @Ol Grey Mare @Lady of McCamley
What do y'all think?

 

[Lady of McCamley]

She appears to have a bad case of omphalitis, which is infected naval/abdomen after hatching, as well as a protruding vent.

That is why it appears "bald." It is actually very swollen.

Because of her odd walk, it could also indicate further internal structure problems in the pelvis, or it could be simply because she is so swollen and infected.

This occasionally happens during hatch. The egg yolk is actually drawn into the body cavity during the last few hours before hatch. The retracted egg yolk gives the chick nourishment for hatching and the first few days of life. The naval closes, sealing the egg yolk inside the abdomen. Sometimes that naval opening doesn't close fully.

Once the chick pips and provides an opening to the outside world, bacteria can enter into the shell. If the naval has not closed completely or properly, it enters into the open naval. The warm yolk inside provides a fertile ground for bacteria to grow.

The cure is antibiotics. Usually protruding vents recede as the swelling does. At that point, you can assess whether the chick has further structural problems which could indicate a poorly formed pelvis or some sort of hernia in the abdomen.

Hopefully it is just an infected vent and addressing that will resolve the other issues as well.

My thoughts.
LofMc

 

[Kiki]

She appears to have a bad case of omphalitis, which is infected naval/abdomen after hatching, as well as a protruding vent.

That is why it appears "bald." It is actually very swollen.

Because of her odd walk, it could also indicate further internal structure problems in the pelvis, or it could be simply because she is so swollen and infected.

This occasionally happens during hatch. The egg yolk is actually drawn into the body cavity during the last few hours before hatch. The retracted egg yolk gives the chick nourishment for hatching and the first few days of life. The naval closes, sealing the egg yolk inside the abdomen. Sometimes that naval opening doesn't close fully.

Once the chick pips and provides an opening to the outside world, bacteria can enter into the shell. If the naval has not closed completely or properly, it enters into the open naval. The warm yolk inside provides a fertile ground for bacteria to grow.

The cure is antibiotics. Usually protruding vents recede as the swelling does. At that point, you can assess whether the chick has further structural problems which could indicate a poorly formed pelvis or some sort of hernia in the abdomen.

Hopefully it is just an infected vent and addressing that will resolve the other issues as well.

My thoughts.
LofMc