d'uccle mille fleur with balance issues

[z0rk]

We have a d'uccle mille fleur. He exhibits no signs of physical injury. He can't keep his balance and he is undersized. Otherwise, he eats, drinks, responds to sound and light; eyes appear normal; no coughing or any other sign of illness. He falls over easily and often, but he can walk and even run when startled. None of our other chicks exhibit any of his symptoms. All of our chicks are about 3+ months old. His symptoms aren't changing for better or worse; and they started about a month ago. We've compared his symptoms with diseases related to muscular or central nervous system disorders, but they don't match. We now keep him separate from the other chicks, otherwise he gets run over. Any ideas what's wrong with our little guy?

Thanks

 

[dinosaw]

Hi zork and welcome to the forum.

The things that spring to mind are stroke, ear infection which is causing balance issues or some kind of skeletal problem which means one leg is weak. The fact that he is undersized suggests that some kind of problem has been there for a while as it means he hasn't competed well for food.

 

[z0rk]

So, other than giving him some TLC there's probably nothing else left to do. He doesn't seem to be suffering or in pain and now that we keep him separate from the rest he doesn't get stampeded any more. My wife also mentioned that he can grip her finger firmly with both of his claws. Anyway, thanks for your feedback dinosaw.