5 weeks old & falling over

Bethmol

In the Brooder
Jun 29, 2016
3
0
40
I am raising 3 Rhode Island Reds, and one of them for the past week has had her head looking down, and she can't seem to look up like the other chicks. Tonight she started to draw her head in towards the ground and fall over.

I tried to call a vet, but no one is available in the evening.

Any advice on how to try to and get her to make it through the night?

Thanks!
 
I'm guessing she has Vitamin E encephalopathy, or in layman's terms "crazy chick disease" do a google search. Depending on how much damage has been done, there may be hope for her. Poultry Nutri-Drench, if you can get a drop into her straight from the dropper. Then get some into the chick's water to make it look like very weak tea. Be sure to change the water every day. If you can't access the PND right away, you might try giving her a drop of vitamin E from a nicked capsule. Just wipe a bit of the oil on the side of her beak, and she should slurp enough down to get her started. I also used regular selenium tablet, scraped a few grains off the edge of a pill and got some of that (think just a speck of dust) into my chick when I was dealing with this issue. Brought a chick back from comatose and hypothermic to running around and not able to distinguish from the others of same breed. Unfortunately, the internal damage had already been done by then, and I put him down several months later: severe scoliosis, and CHF.

Note to reader: I am in no way qualified to dispense advice on treatment of this or any other possible ailment. I can only tell you what my research led me to and the results achieved.
 
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I agree with LG, but that's not meant to be a diagnosis. You can try adding vitamins, as above, and maybe it will help. What's very important moving forward, is to always check the 'manufactured by' date on the feed, and only get bags that are a few weeks old, max. No more than four weeks, and newer is better. Some vitamins don't age gracefully in the bag, and it matters. Also, some individuals may have greater than normal need for some nutrients, and not do well on a normal diet. Saving one of these is nice for that individual, but don't plan to raise chicks from her. I hope you have a good outcome, and have a healthy chick. Mary
 
Thank you both. My daughter is so upset about the chicken, but thanks to you both, I made a grocery store run for vitamin E. I did not find selenium. Now hoping for the best for this one.
 

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