Lethargic chick not eating much

TLove99

Chirping
Apr 1, 2015
63
6
61
Central Virginia
Ive been reading your site for a couple months in preparation for the arrival of my chicks. It's a great resource. All my chicks were doing well until this morning. I noticed one of my Dominiques is pretty lethargic. The she is pretty small still comapred to the rest. They are 4 days old now. I put her and a few of the other smaller ones in a seperate box with some chick starter that I ground up into almost a powder. She seemed to like that better but still only ate a few bites. I let them eat for a while and put them back with the others. I went ahead and ground up all the food so everyone could enjoy the smaller pieces. I showed her where the water is again but she wasnt interested in that either. She watches everyone eat then tries to peck at the food through the glass jar:/. I dont think she is real bright. I'm going to try and get her to drink from a dropper. Right now i'm letting her rest. No pasty butt, but her poop is a bit runny. Any more suggestions would be more than appreciated. Thanks
 
SaveAChick vitamin/electrolytes added to her water would be good to give the chicks for a day or two. Dip her beak into the water, allowing her time to swallow, as often as you can all day long. With new chicks I like to put some chick crumbles on paper towel around their feet to teach them to eat. Sometimes they will eat the bedding when learning what food is, and get a crop impaction. Here is a recipe for homemade electrolytes:

HOMEMADE ELECTROLYTE SOLUTION
1/2 teaspoon salt substitute*
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon table salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 gallon water
 
Thanks. I ran up to Southern States (it's just a mile or so up the road) and got some electrolytes with probiotics. I managed to get her to drink a few drops with the dropper. I put it in the waterer for everyone else as well. She is pretty weak, maybe that will perk her up.

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She also has these white spots next to her eyes that the others dont. It looks a little like just her colors changing, but like I said, the others don't have it. Thought I should mention it.
 
Were these hatchery or feed store chicks, or did you purchase them from a breeder? I'm not sure what the bumps on the eyelid are, but keep an eye on them.
 
I may have figured out what was wrong. I was giving her water and felt a hard lump on her neck. I searched crop impaction on the site and a thread said to give her some olive oil and massage her crop. She is still pretty weak. The lump seems to be gone, I hope I wasn't too late. We will keep giving her water with electrolytes and probiotics. She was acting a little more normal when I left for work, scratching herself and walking a little. Fingers crossed!
 

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