Chick drank water, died shortly after

Our mommy hen hatched one little baby four days ago. She had systematically chucked all her eggs, but two, out. When this little one hatched, it was very weak and didn't seem to move around much. After three days we threw the unhatched egg out as she was favouring the egg and neglecting the baby. Baby was weak and not eating or drinking. Fed it a yolk and yoghurt mixture twice yesterday (Day 3 after hatching) and some water using a syringe. We were surprised at how Mom let us take the baby! This morning I fed baby again and it was starting to shuffle around. We had a beautiful sunny day and Mom took Baby out into their private little garden. They seemed to spend all day outside, Baby even started to peck at the sand. I realised the water was inside so Baby had not had access all morning since I had fed it. Brought the waterer over and Baby knew straight away to drink. I watched it carefully to make sure it didn't fall into the water. It drank quite a bit and then snuggled back under Mom's Wong. Half an hour later I went to check and Baby was lying limp in the soil. Mom left as soon as she saw us. Baby had water bubbles in nostril. Baby had passed away. We tried to open the beak which was also full of water. When Baby was tilted, water poured out the mouth. What happened???? Did it drink too much and choke? We have only had one other hen raise chicks before (they're now six weeks old) so this is very new territory!

Welcome to BYC!

I'm so sorry for your loss.

It could be if it was very weak that she stood on it throat and that choked it to death, we have had chickens in the past just choke of eating too much too fast also.

I'm sorry that little chick didn't make it. I think the hen was neglecting the chick in favor of the egg, and then didn't care that you took the chick because she knew it was inferior. Chickens, as it is with most animals, don't nurture weakness and if the chick wasn't strong enough to make it, the hen wasn't going to spend time and effort on it. Sometimes chicks don't make it. Sometimes they die before hatching; sometimes they die during hatching; and sometimes they die shortly after hatching. Humans are the only species that nurture weakness and it was your nurturing that allowed the chick to live as long as it did, but ultimately nature won over nurture this time. You gave the chick the best life -- as short as that was -- that it could have. Sometimes we don't know why they die. They just do.

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I'm sorry about your chick, but I really doubt the water had anything to do with it's death.

From the start this chick was weak and unthrifty. Hadn't eaten or drank much in 4 days, apparently? Death was just a matter of time. Some little animals just don't make it. The water made no difference.

I second what donrae said. So sorry about the little chick, but it is evident it was failure-to-thrive. So often we tend to mistake coincidence for causation. The chick probably simply chose that moment after drinking to take its final breath.

kkauerauf said:

Our mommy hen hatched one little baby four days ago. She had systematically chucked all her eggs, but two, out. When this little one hatched, it was very weak and didn't seem to move around much. After three days we threw the unhatched egg out as she was favouring the egg and neglecting the baby. Baby was weak and not eating or drinking. Fed it a yolk and yoghurt mixture twice yesterday (Day 3 after hatching) and some water using a syringe. We were surprised at how Mom let us take the baby! This morning I fed baby again and it was starting to shuffle around. We had a beautiful sunny day and Mom took Baby out into their private little garden. They seemed to spend all day outside, Baby even started to peck at the sand. I realised the water was inside so Baby had not had access all morning since I had fed it. Brought the waterer over and Baby knew straight away to drink. I watched it carefully to make sure it didn't fall into the water. It drank quite a bit and then snuggled back under Mom's Wong. Half an hour later I went to check and Baby was lying limp in the soil. Mom left as soon as she saw us. Baby had water bubbles in nostril. Baby had passed away. We tried to open the beak which was also full of water. When Baby was tilted, water poured out the mouth. What happened???? Did it drink too much and choke? We have only had one other hen raise chicks before (they're now six weeks old) so this is very new territory!

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I am sorry about your lost chick.
Ok, I am gonna weigh in here. The problem is that the chick was weak and its gastrointestinal tract was unable to process enough nutrition from the food you gave it to keep it alive. If you ever get another weak chick, you need to interdict the developmental timeline with a supplement which does not need to be digested. It's all about the G.I. tract and how well it does or doesn't function in neonates. I understand why you gave it the probiotics and the vitamins. The fact still remains that these supplements need to be digested which the G.I. tract was not able to do. So the chick died.
Forget about the water, it is a red herring. These newly hatched babies need nutrition on a more elemental level. Not in a base of some kind but just the nutritional elements themselves. Because the new hatched chick's G.I tract is undergoing a tremendous amount of development in the first few days after hatch, simpler is better.
Here's what you do. Go to Tractor Supply or your local feed store. Buy the smallest bottle of Bovidr Labs Poultry Nutri Drench ( about 6.00 ). Give the chick one drop only by mouth. Repeat as needed every 8-10 hours until perky. Then put it in their water for the 1st 2 weeks of life.The water should look like very weak tea. This will get them off to a strong start.
This supplement does not need to be digested. It mainlines diretly into the bloodstream, measureable in 10 mintes. Bypassing the challenged, immature G.I. tract. http://www.nutridrench.com I have never had a sick or dead chick when I have reaised them on the Drench.
A lot of folk give digestible helps to their chicks. But the best supplements don't need to be digested. You can give the probiotics later after the chick has turned the corner.
Best,
Karen