Just when things are going fine....

Last night, the last chick check was as usual: Happy, healthy chicks running around, loving the newly expanded brooder. This morning? A half-dozen chicks are laying on the floor, flopping around, unable to stand up or walk easily. After thinking "oh dear, its a slipped tendon!", I realized: 6 chicks do not ALL sudden slip tendons. Swollen joints, curled up feet, tenderness in the legs, but with good appetite and interest in drinking, so they couldn't be that sick, right? Thank goodness I splurged on a copy of the Chicken Health Handbook (I thought I wouldn't really need to use it but got it anyway), and I think I have it narrowed down to Viral Arthritis. Apparently, this affects broilers (yep, those are mine) and heavy breed chicks that grow quickly. It has a very rapid onset (as in, overnight), and causes all the joint symptoms I identified in the little chickie-poos. It doesn't kill them, unless they get a secondary infection, and usually all recover within a week. So here's hoping that VA is really what I have. When I checked this afternoon, a couple more chicks seemed to have the same symptoms, but when I startled them and made them move around by stepping into their habitat with my scary, giant feet, all of them were able to get their legs under them and waddle/shuffle out of the way. Again, a good sign! It was ridiculously hot and muggy yesterday, and I tried not to let the chicks get too heat-stressed, but there isn't much you can do when Mother Nature decides to be a booger. I can only wonder if the stress of yesterday tipped some of the weaker chicks over the edge, and let this virus take hold. Keep your fingers crossed that we have a fast recovery over here!