Slow developing chick! Help!

[rkbhjk10]

I have a poor little baby chick which I had to help hatch because he was stuck upside down. He was one of three that I had to help for the same reason this hatch! The other two are running around with the other 11 chicks happy as can be. This poor little guy is having lots of trouble with balance and is much smaller than the others. He is still eating and drinking some. It just seems as though he is very behind. What should I do? Do you think he will catch up? Sometimes I go check on them and he is lying on his back, unable to get up. He will be 2 days old in a few hours..

 

[HEChicken]

Some chicks just have "failure to thrive". That is why, as hard as it may be to watch them struggle to hatch, I don't help unless I did something to cause the issue in the first place. Mother Nature has a way of weeding out the ones that never should have hatched. It is possible that this chick didn't hatch correctly by itself for the same reasons it is now struggling to stay on its feet.

You can continue to baby it and hope for the best - unless it appears to be suffering, you have nothing to lose. But it wouldn't hurt to be prepared for the possibility that it won't make it.