Chickens are hyperactive animals that love moving from one place to another searching for their daily food. Something is probably wrong with your chicken if it doesn’t stand up, move around, or if it remains at a spot all day.
So, in this article, we will discuss everything you should be about chicken’s inability to stand up, including the sickness and factors responsible, and the possible treatments.
Contents
Why is my chicken just sitting down?
There could be a variety of reasons why your chicken is not standing up. Some possible causes include:
- Illness or disease
- Parasites or mites
- Injury or trauma
- Nutritional deficiencies
- Fatigue or exhaustion
Environmental factors could also contribute such as extreme temperatures or rather a poor living conditions they are in.
Other reasons are discussed extensively below:
1. Sickness
As stated earlier, sickness is an underlying factor making your chicken sit at a spot for a long period. Observe the chicken’s feathers and see if it doesn’t look attractive and healthy.
Loss of appetite is another sickness symptom you should observe if your chicken keeps sitting at a spot without trying to stand up. Reduction in egg production, changes in comb color, and weakness are all symptoms of sickness in chickens.
Don’t hesitate to consult your veterinary doctor as soon as you detect one or all the symptoms alongside the sitting problem.
2. Mere weakness Or Laziness
Weakness or laziness can make your chicken sit in one position, albeit for a while. A weak or lazy chicken may decide to sit at one place without changing its position for 30 minutes.
This reason doesn’t need medical attention as long as you are sure it is in good health. Just keep a close tab on the chicken and check for other signs we mentioned already to be sure it is not suffering from another underlying or hidden sickness.
3. Injured Leg
All chickens need healthy legs to move around, therefore, an injured leg is another possible reason why your Chicken won’t move regardless of your action or decision.
In the same vein, a weak leg can also be the underlying factor. Endeavor to check the chicken legs whenever it stays at one spot for a very long time.
Lastly don’t fail to check for over weight, weak legs etc.
4. Your chicken (hen) is in its brooding period
A broody hen is a chicken in its brooding stage meaning it is about to hatch her eggs. During this stage, the chicken or hen will keep sitting down on the spot, covering the eggs to provide the required warmth.
The brooding period in chickens ranges from 20 to 21 days which is also equivalent to the number of egg incubation periods. In such a case, you should monitor your chicken for 20 to 21 days and see if the action continues beyond the time frame.
In the same vein, look out for other signs of a brooding hen including aggressiveness, fluffing of whether to look big, growling, and perking when you got closer to its nesting box, removing her chest feathers, and going back to her nest box immediately after changing its position.
You must know that another factor is responsible for your chicken’s decision to sit down all day if you don’t observe any of the brooding signs mentioned above.
Why does my chicken have trouble walking?
When your chicken finds it difficult waking about each time it wants to walk, these are the most common causes that might be responsible for such
broken bones or sprains. other possible reasons could be problems such as Congenital defects, an example of this condition is leg or foot deformities. Your chicken could also have trouble working if they are Obese.
More also, certain Disease or infection like an avian influenza, Marek’s disease, viral arthritis, and coccidiosis could make your chicken have trouble walking .
It is also possible that your chicken is suffering from Nutritional deficiencies and it is well known that when certain minerals and vitamins are lacking in their meal they could fall sick easily, become weak easily, wont have the nerve and muscle to walk etc.
It’s best you identify the root causes by consulting with a veterinarian or you get in touch with your poultry specialist around you to help to determine.
Why is my chicken just sitting down?
Although chicken typically rest after walking, running and playing within their confined vicinity
But when they sit down for a long time with out getting up or rather moving about as usual then something should be wrong and finding the underlying reason for this will determine the type of treatment to be recommended.
Ideally, There are various stuff that could make your chicken just sit down in one place. This could be as a result of an injury or as a result of an illness, apart from this two possible reasons, another reason could be that the temperature is either hot or very cold or your chicken is molting or your chicken is just threatened and it is scared of moving about.
What causes weak legs in chickens?
Variety of factors could be attributed to weak legs in chickens and this factors are many. So your chicken could be suffering from an infectious diseases, genetic disorders or nutritional deficiencies which could cause it to have weak legs.
One of the major contributing factor to weak legs in chickens is Nutritional deficiencies; when your chicken lack adequate calcium or vitamin D it is likely going to have weak legs and as a result make your chicken sit down all through and also find it difficult walking.
Apart from Genetic disorders, such as “spraddle leg,” which causes weak legs in chickens improper brooding conditions could also attributes to weak legs in chickens, this condition could be coldness or dampness of the environment.
So identifying the root causes might be tricky and this is why we recommend you to consult a veterinarian or a poultry expert, they are in best position to quickly carry out a complete diagnosis to determine the specific causes while at the same time recommend the appropriate treatment.
Reovirus infections, arthritis, coccidiosis, Marek’s disease, and Newcastle disease can cause weak legs, thereby making it hard for your chickens to work effectively and conveniently.
Can a chicken recover from paralysis?
For a chicken to recover from paralysis all depends on the root cause and how quick they recover also depends on the causes.
Just like in the case of nutritional deficiency or injury induced paralysis the chicken will likely recover from this once properly treatment is completed.
Your chickens could take a week or two to recover from paralysis depending on how soon you start the treatment, the quality of treatment, and the chicken’s immune system.
But on the other hand, certain paralysis might be for life. Such as paralysis caused by a disease or a congenital condition. In this case recovery might be difficult or not possible at all.
What do you do with a paralyzed chicken?
When a chicken is paralyzed irrespective of the factor it might find it difficult to stand or even walk without an aid.
In such a case, proper care and assistance should be given to the chicken so that it can able to continue eating and drinking, because that is what it needs at this moment.
You should also ensure that it’s living space is kept clean to keep it protected from other diseases that might compound on the already existing issue, to get this right, you should ensure that soft bedding material gotten from wood shavings are provided . You should also provide a secure environment for the chicken because it is vulnerable at this stage.
You might want to hold it upright like providing support for it to walk around ; this is not bad.
Lastly dont forget to consult a veterinarian to treat the underlying issues that makes your chicken paralysed.
Our Final Verdict
Vaccinating your chicken regularly will go a long way in preventing all kinds of infections in your farm.
Hence, we advise you to pay concrete attention to your chicken’s welfare by vaccinating them, disinfecting their pen, feeding them regularly, and ensuring you consult a qualified veterinarian as soon as you detect abnormalities among your livestock.
Sources
https://birdcageshere.com/2021/12/13/chicken-keeps-sitting-down/
https://www.nda.agric.za/docs/nervous/default.htm
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