Newly hatched chick flipping over

[Sharon Yorks]

I'm just curious as to what others think is the cause of a newly hatched chick looking straight up and then flipping over and what to do about it.

[Russ]

You can try a Vitamin supplement to the water, it might help. Seems I have heard something about vitamin deficiency possibly causing it. I have seen a couple like that and early on when my flock was small I tried saving them. Adding vitamin to all my breeders water every 2-3 days seemed to help eliminate the problem, or maybe I have just been lucky the last couple of seasons. Now I cull them because I never had great success with them making it and noticed they would get trampled by all the other chicks  not to mention if it is/was genetic I want to eliminate it asap 

[Mike Gilbert]

You can try a Vitamin supplement to the water, it might help. Seems I have heard something about vitamin deficiency possibly causing it. I have seen a couple like that and early on when my flock was small I tried saving them. Adding vitamin to all my breeders water every 2-3 days seemed to help eliminate the problem, or maybe I have just been lucky the last couple of seasons. Now I cull them because I never had great success with them making it and noticed they would get trampled by all the other chicks  not to mention if it is/was genetic I want to eliminate it asap

   X 2

[John]

Now I cull them

Me too. 

[Sharon Yorks]

I think I have figured out the problem and how to fix most of it. I do believe it is a vitamin issue, but I'm not certain if it is related genetically to the parents or just the chick itself. I have hatched a lot of chicks this year and have had 4-5 that were either looking up and flipping over, or sitting way back on its butt with its legs way out in front of it and would look so far up that its little head almost rested on its back.

I believe this is a result of lack of strength in its muscles to where it cannot get up on its feet and its neck muscles cannot support its head. I already add vitamin and electrolytes to the newly hatched chick's water, but I make sure to dip the weak chick's beak in it several times every 30 minutes or so, so that it has to drink some...careful of course not to drown it. After the second time of doing this, I hold the chick up to where it has to put strength on its legs. When I set it down and it falls back on its butt and starts to look up, I gentle push its head down to the correct position and try to get it back up on its feet. I was shocked at how fast most of the chicks snap out of it once they've gotten some vitamins in them and circulation to their muscles. I think when you push their head back down, they use a little of their neck muscles to push back against your hand and I actually had one stand up on its own just by being able to push against me. The worst one I had made progress as I worked with it, but took a full day to totally snap out of it. One person I had sold eggs to had a chick that did that, and after telling them what to do, they reported the chick was fine after 3 secessions.

I realize that if you are hatching many chicks on a regular basis, you probably don't have time to give a few individual chicks the extra attention or set them in a secluded area so that they don't get trampled. I'm just sharing this information so that anyone who may want to make the effort can...(if I'm correct in my theory)...understand a little more of what might be going on and give it a try.

I'm not completely certain about it being a genetic issue, but I CAN say that the last two chicks that I had do that were NOT from the same pen nor were they closely related.

[John]

I've had some like before also.  The ones I mentioned, from last year, were similar but different.  Not to change the topic, but to show what I originally thought might be what you were talking about here is a photo.  These did not stand and flip.  They were on their backs, with legs spread and heads turned.

[Sharon Yorks]

Oh, wow! No, that is something totally different. I've never seen anything like that before. What do you think causes that?

[John]

I haven't seen it this year, but had some over the past 2 years as I recall.  I think it was only with the LF lavenders, so it must have been some genetic disorder(?).

[DeWayne Edgin]

I lost 12 out of 13 chicks from my first hatch that did this and 6 chicks from my second hatch. I am feeding the hens a higher protien mix that is called flock raiser and is 18 dollars a bag! I hope the next hatch due tomorrow is better.

[Russ]

Sharon I don't know what a lot is to you, but if you are adding Vitamin supplement to your breeders water and feeding a high protein feed. You might want to think about culling those chicks from now on. 4-5 already this year seems a little high to me, unless you already have hatched a BUNCH. I think MY main problem back when I noticed this in my flock was it was small and so was the gene pool. Honestly I believe what helped the most is introducing new stock/genes from the same breeder my original line came from. Which helped increase my gene pool. On that note it kind of sounds like it might be wry neck??? Or so I think it is called, which could be low humidity, vitamin deficiency or who knows what really. I have always been a bleeding heart when it comes to chicks but the reality is....would it make it in the wild? Culling is one of the toughest things THIS chicken farmer has learned to do, but to better a breed it is necessary     

[Sharon Yorks]

I've hatched close to 200 chicks so far this year, which I guess isn't really a LOT, but I'm trying to stay small and focus on quality. I don't think that 4-5 weak chicks would constitute a genetic issue considering the incubator problems I've been having that may have been part of the issue. During my last hatch this week, most of the chicks in my one incubator hatched early on Monday, but I like to leave them all in and not open it until at least 36 hours after the first one hatches. I checked the temperature and humidity before I went to bed and all was fine. When I checked them again the next morning, the temperature had bottomed out and all of the chicks were huddled together in a corner. I quickly took all of the chicks out and put them under the heat light and then found 4 pipped eggs with cold chicks screaming for help. I didn't feel they had a fair shot at hatching so I helped the 4 out and 1 of those was 1 that had the weak muscles.

I understand the "sacrifice some in favor of bettering the breed" and maybe I wouldn't think twice about culling a weak chick had it been hatched under one of my hens, but until I'm certain my temperamental incubators aren't the main contributing factor, I gotta help the little critters get a fair shot at it. Besides, I don't think 4-5 out of almost 200 is really all that bad considering. I'm pretty happy with my gene pool and have very strong, great producing birds. I don't keep anything that doesn't measure up to a very high standard. I DO need to get on a better vitamin supplement regiment, though. Thanks for pointing that out.   

[Tailfeathers]

That sounds like "stargazing" to me.  I think I had a chick do that several years ago.  Don't remember if it was an Ameraucana or not.  If I remember right, I just put it down.  Seem to recall it was a Vitamin B-something deficiency.  I think I read it could be corrected but that it may need continued vitamin supplements.  Not sure.  Pretty sure I just put it down because I hatch enough that there was no reason to risk it.

Anyways, you might wanna look up Stargazing.

God Bless,

Royce

[greeneggsandham]

I found this and it reminded me of this post, so, passing it on.  Seems to be Vitimin E related.

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/6/diseases-of-poultry/218/vitamin-e-deficiency

[Sharon Yorks]

I just read that article and that really doesn't sound like what this was. It just seems to me that these chicks were a little weak getting started. After Russ has mentioned the higher protein diet, I realized I hadn't helped my breeders much in that category. All of these chicks snapped out of it very quickly after giving them a good dose of vitamins and helping them get to their feet and get moving.

[greeneggsandham]

A dose of Vit E helped a chick I had that was flipping over.  It was almost immediate.  I had previously given him vitimin drops and 48 hours later would still find it on it's back.  Maybe it was coincidence or maybe it just needed more time, idk.