[Richard Boomer]

Hello all,

as a newcomer to the chicken keeping business i have tried to give my 8 week old chickens all they ned.

However three of my chickens have developed splayed legs and dieing.

It starts by them walking with very wide legs and progresses over a day or two to them sitting, eating on their bums, with their legs out to the sides, then death.

Does any one have any ideas?

[Casey76]

What breed are they?  What feed are you giving them?  How much are they eating?

What you are seeing, going down on their legs, is very common in  broilers such as ross cobbs, as they are genetically programmed to eat and eat to put on weight very quickly.  this results in them weighing too much for their immature legs, causing hip and hock dislocations.

Also, they dying ("flipping") is also very common in this breed, as their heart muscle can't keep up with the demands of their too heavy bodies.

It is much less common in hybrid layers.

[Chicken_Lover]

Yeah, seems more than likely that they've gained too much weight and their small legs have failed them 

[joyfull]

have they been vaccinated against mareks?

[snow white]

Sounds like Mareks disease.

[Spana]

Ummm, could be mareks but that usually strikes at about 18-20 weeks or POL.  I would say that what Richard is describing is the result of a lot of in-breeding.