- Oct 2, 2009
- 1,333
- 15
- 151
I got my chicks from the feed store last Sunday. They were all happy and healthy...for a week. This Sunday I noticed one of my EE's wasn't eating or drinking. She had been eating and drinking fine, I would see four(I only have four) chicks eating and drinking. She just wasn't interested. I would dip her beak, and she would drink that, then run away. If I set her down near the feeder or the waterer, no results. She would look down at the food/water, stare for a second, then just run away. She knew the food and water were there, she looked at them, and she just wasn't interested in having any.
Yesterday, I saw her eat a bit from the feeder. She's still doing a little tiny bit of that, didn't see any this afternoon though. She will not drink from the waterer. I fed her drops of water off my finger; she would put her beak up and drink it. Yesterday night I started offering her plain tap water(they all drink tap water, I don't have a filter attached) in a plastic cup I used to offer them mash in as a treat. She drank from that, and today as well. She seems thirsty, as she drank more than the other three chicks(who all have no problem drinking and eating). She won't eat much from the feeder, so I feed her crumbles from my hand. She attacks those, and eats some off the ground. I saw her peck at some pine shavings on Sunday, can't tell if she ate some.
She is pooping; the poops are a bit small but still look normal.
Last night I finally had the idea to feel her crop. It's much smaller than the other chicks', feels soft and squishy. It feels very empty, but with some liquid in there. As I massage it, occasionally I feel a small "gas bubble" that if I press it gently upwards, it will "pop". They haven't been outside before. The only treats they have had are hard boiled egg and yogurt, stopped feeding treats after I noticed this.
She always acts like there is water in her beak. When she eats, she doesn't seem to just peck like the others do. She picks the crumble up with her beak, but in order to get it down she has to kind of jerk her head in a forward/backward motion. It's hard to explain. It has nothing to do with the size of the crumble, she still does it when the crumble is pretty small(which I know because I am hand-feeding her).
She is still active and cheeping away, but sleeping more that normal. She also seems to be growing a bit slower than the other chicks.
1) What type of bird , age and weight.
EE pullet. I'm going to guess the age at around 3 weeks, don't know the weight.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
Not eating and drinking, sleeping more than usual.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
Since Sunday.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
No.
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
No.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
I thought maybe she ate some pine shavings, but she is pooping.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
Chick starter(think it's medicated) and tap water.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Normal, a bit small.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Fed her food and water.
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
I think this is a problem that can be solved and home and would prefer to do that.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
Two printer boxes taped together. Waterer and food at the cool side.
The lamp is a table lamp set on the floor of the brooder with a 100w bulb.
The bedding on the bottom is newspaper. However, I have put in two shoe boxes in the brooder underneath the lamp. One has dirt from the garden in it, the other has pine shavings. The pine shavings I covered with a paper towel last night in case she had been eating some.
Yesterday, I saw her eat a bit from the feeder. She's still doing a little tiny bit of that, didn't see any this afternoon though. She will not drink from the waterer. I fed her drops of water off my finger; she would put her beak up and drink it. Yesterday night I started offering her plain tap water(they all drink tap water, I don't have a filter attached) in a plastic cup I used to offer them mash in as a treat. She drank from that, and today as well. She seems thirsty, as she drank more than the other three chicks(who all have no problem drinking and eating). She won't eat much from the feeder, so I feed her crumbles from my hand. She attacks those, and eats some off the ground. I saw her peck at some pine shavings on Sunday, can't tell if she ate some.
She is pooping; the poops are a bit small but still look normal.
Last night I finally had the idea to feel her crop. It's much smaller than the other chicks', feels soft and squishy. It feels very empty, but with some liquid in there. As I massage it, occasionally I feel a small "gas bubble" that if I press it gently upwards, it will "pop". They haven't been outside before. The only treats they have had are hard boiled egg and yogurt, stopped feeding treats after I noticed this.
She always acts like there is water in her beak. When she eats, she doesn't seem to just peck like the others do. She picks the crumble up with her beak, but in order to get it down she has to kind of jerk her head in a forward/backward motion. It's hard to explain. It has nothing to do with the size of the crumble, she still does it when the crumble is pretty small(which I know because I am hand-feeding her).
She is still active and cheeping away, but sleeping more that normal. She also seems to be growing a bit slower than the other chicks.
1) What type of bird , age and weight.
EE pullet. I'm going to guess the age at around 3 weeks, don't know the weight.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
Not eating and drinking, sleeping more than usual.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
Since Sunday.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
No.
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
No.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
I thought maybe she ate some pine shavings, but she is pooping.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
Chick starter(think it's medicated) and tap water.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Normal, a bit small.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Fed her food and water.
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
I think this is a problem that can be solved and home and would prefer to do that.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
Two printer boxes taped together. Waterer and food at the cool side.
The lamp is a table lamp set on the floor of the brooder with a 100w bulb.
The bedding on the bottom is newspaper. However, I have put in two shoe boxes in the brooder underneath the lamp. One has dirt from the garden in it, the other has pine shavings. The pine shavings I covered with a paper towel last night in case she had been eating some.