I have a Silkie chick that's almost 7 weeks old whose been acting odd lately. A few days ago, his buddy that he had been with since he was 2 weeks old died. I'm not entirely sure why he died, but I had been keeping the chicks on our covered porch and the day before he died, an unexpected wind storm/cold front hit overnight. It had been in the upper 80's for a while, so I felt it was safe to go ahead and put them outside so they'd stop stinking up the house. They still had a heat lamp at night, but I think the winds and sudden temperature drop weakened him too much. The Silkie chick was doing just fine, but later that day he started acting lethargic. I didn't think much of it, but the next day he was still lethargic, and I didn't feel any food in his stomach. I had taken them inside where it was warm to wait out the cold front, so I hadn't been using the heat lamp. I didn't know what else to do, so I put the heat lamp back on them, and he perked up a bit after that and started eating and drinking a bit. That was a couple days ago, and he's still acting lethargic and not eating as much as the others. He's a bit underweight and his stomach still isn't very full. The bulb on the heat lamp burnt out, so they haven't had a heat lamp on them, but he shouldn't need a direct heat lamp at 7 weeks when's he's inside and his cage is right next to another cage with a working heat lamp.
If it's significant, I put him and the chick that later died in a cage with a few chicks I bought a couple weeks ago. These chicks are a couple weeks younger than he is, but they are all healthy looking, very active, eating normally, etc. The silkie's dropping are normal and there's nothing that physically tells me what might be wrong with him. If anybody can help, I'd really appreciate it!
If it's significant, I put him and the chick that later died in a cage with a few chicks I bought a couple weeks ago. These chicks are a couple weeks younger than he is, but they are all healthy looking, very active, eating normally, etc. The silkie's dropping are normal and there's nothing that physically tells me what might be wrong with him. If anybody can help, I'd really appreciate it!