Help! Sick baby chick

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smoon

smoon

Chirping
Apr 27, 2016
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I have a week and a half old olive egger chick who was fine until I came home from work today! She was in a group of 12 babies and today she was the only one who was not moving around happily when I arrived home.

She is very weak. Unable to walk or hold head up. She seems stiff and can't stand. Her breathing seems labored. She has a thick white poo. Her eyes are not crusty.

I have never had a sick chick before! What do i do? What should I give her? :(

And i suppose I should keep her far away from the other babies until we figure this all out :(
 
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Make sure that she is warm, and if you can try and give her water sips, then letting her swallow several times an hour by dipping her beak or holding a spoon up to he beak. Do this all evening and tonight if possible. If you have SaveAChick vitamins and electrolytes, add some to the water. If not, put a tsp of sugar in a quart of water. Make sure that she does not have a plugged up vent (or pasty butt,) and keep it cleaned. Feel of her crop (upper right chest under neck) to see if it empty, full, soft, or firm. Let us know how she gets along.
 
The chick just died right in front of me :( can someone please give me their best guess of what happened so I can do my very best to prevent this from killing my other 11 babies?

Last night I observed all 12 babies running and playing in the brooder, perfectly healthy. Today I got home from work at 4:30 and noticed this sweet baby laying listless under the light. I picked her up and brought her in. I made her sip a few drinks of water and set her up inside. She could stand but not walk. Well about five minutes ago I took some sugar water to give to her. She had a seizure, threw up the liquid I had just given her, and died right in front of me :( I could just cry!

Last night was the very first time I picked them up and handled them briefly. Did that cause this? Maybe I had germs on my hands. :(

Any clues as to what happened? Any tips as to how to protect my other babies?
 
I have had this happen simalar from too much heat but. . .that may not be the reason. If you don't give them fluid correctly to they can choke or inhale it. She may have also have a disease, not sure which one but it may effect the others. I have had this when I bough a few chicks from the feed store and they all died because they contained mereks.
 
Last edited:
smoon said:
The chick just died right in front of me :( can someone please give me their best guess of what happened so I can do my very best to prevent this from killing my other 11 babies?

Last night I observed all 12 babies running and playing in the brooder, perfectly healthy. Today I got home from work at 4:30 and noticed this sweet baby laying listless under the light. I picked her up and brought her in. I made her sip a few drinks of water and set her up inside. She could stand but not walk. Well about five minutes ago I took some sugar water to give to her. She had a seizure, threw up the liquid I had just given her, and died right in front of me :( I could just cry!

Last night was the very first time I picked them up and handled them briefly. Did that cause this? Maybe I had germs on my hands. :(

Any clues as to what happened? Any tips as to how to protect my other babies?
Click to expand...
. You didn't hurt them by handling them. It is very common to lose a chick. How did they come to you--from a feed store, in the mail, or from a breeder? Chicks sent in the mail to us and to feedstores may suffer a lot of stress from getting cold, dehydrated, or rough handling. Some are just weak. I would make sure they are all eating and especially drinking normally. Check for pasty butt, although they should hopefully be over that. Your brooder temperature should read between 85 and 90 F with a thermometer on the floor. There should be a warm area under the light and a cooler area to get to if overheated. I'm sorry that you lost her, but hopefully no others.
 
Thank you. These chicks came from a breeder and were very expensive (for me) which is why I sure hate to lose anymore. And I love them, of course! :(

They are in a very large brooder with two lights on one end, and the other half is cooler. They have crumbles, grit, a little dirt pile to play in, and clean water every day.

They are 10 days old today. Since the chick died, I got them all out and replaced all of the bedding. I scrubbed all food and water dishes with dawn and replaced. I also replaced all of their roosts with new ones. I think I have done all that I can do. I guess I better cross my fingers and hope they don't have mereks or some other disease! The other 11 are "seemingly" normal right now. Hoping for the best!
 
I did not mention that I have had them for one week today. No problems 'till today.
 
I'm sorry to hear about your little chick :(
All the cleaning sounds like a good prevention and I hope that will be the only heart ache! Good luck with the rest of the flock!
 

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