Shugercube
Songster
TL;DR version- how frequently should I be crop feeding a days-old chick? Hatched on 2/22.
Full story: Okay, so I have a sick little chickie. She seemed fine upon arrival, but has been struggling with a dirty bum (which I've been cleaning multiple times a day), green watery diarrhea, and is extra sleepy and droopy and not wanting to eat/drink on her own. I have nutridrench and probiotics in the waterer, and am feeding 20% chick starter. All the other chicks (19 others) are happy and healthy.
This one little girl just isn't thriving. I know it just happens sometimes, but after trying to encourage her with some egg yolk (not a fan), and barely getting a few drops of straight nutridrench into her using a syringe, I made the executive decision to just crop feed her. Luckily, I have a teeny tiny tube that I can fit onto a 3mL syringe. I started with .5mL of warmed water, waited about 15 minutes, and she made a little poo. The .5 barely made any change in her crop, so I gave another 1mL of water which she took great. After another 30 minutes she pooped again, and her crop still felt pretty empty, so I mixed up some baby bird formula (Kaytee exact) along with some poultry cell, and gave her 1.5mL of that. She tolerated that and pooped again, crop still really empty, so I gave her 2mL. Should I continue to feed her every 30 minutes or so? Is that too frequent? I assume chicks are like babies in that they need smaller amounts more frequently, but I've never dealt with tubing such a young tiny thing. Would appreciate input!
Full story: Okay, so I have a sick little chickie. She seemed fine upon arrival, but has been struggling with a dirty bum (which I've been cleaning multiple times a day), green watery diarrhea, and is extra sleepy and droopy and not wanting to eat/drink on her own. I have nutridrench and probiotics in the waterer, and am feeding 20% chick starter. All the other chicks (19 others) are happy and healthy.
This one little girl just isn't thriving. I know it just happens sometimes, but after trying to encourage her with some egg yolk (not a fan), and barely getting a few drops of straight nutridrench into her using a syringe, I made the executive decision to just crop feed her. Luckily, I have a teeny tiny tube that I can fit onto a 3mL syringe. I started with .5mL of warmed water, waited about 15 minutes, and she made a little poo. The .5 barely made any change in her crop, so I gave another 1mL of water which she took great. After another 30 minutes she pooped again, and her crop still felt pretty empty, so I mixed up some baby bird formula (Kaytee exact) along with some poultry cell, and gave her 1.5mL of that. She tolerated that and pooped again, crop still really empty, so I gave her 2mL. Should I continue to feed her every 30 minutes or so? Is that too frequent? I assume chicks are like babies in that they need smaller amounts more frequently, but I've never dealt with tubing such a young tiny thing. Would appreciate input!
The other standard Cochins are all 23-24g. That's such a HUGE difference when they're so tiny 
