Chick breathing question.

[TwoCrows]

Even if she did aspirate a bit of water, doesn't mean the end of her. I accidentally aspirated a hen years back when putting fluids down her beak.

She rattled and gurgled loudly for a couple days until finally she started breathing normally. Scared me to death! LOL But she didn't have any long lasting issues.

 

[TripMomma]

Thanks guys. Just a little update. Today is day 4 of the rapid labored breathing of my little EE baby. She is about the same (I would say a smidge better but I don't want to jinx it). She is still eating, drinking and preening herself. So far the other three are not showing any signs, though one of the other three is not keeping up with the other size wise...my rapid breather is actually the biggest/heaviest of the 4 LOL. I hope she can keep fighting.

Should I worry about my runt? They were all the same size when they got here, but now at 1 week old the other 3 look a bit bigger than her.

If it's not one thing, it's another LOL.

 

[Urban Flock]

Your such a great Chicken Mommy! As far as the size goes I don't think there is anything to worry about at this point. You do have 4 different kinds right? They don't all grow at the same rate. Last fall I raised 2 BA, 4 Americana's, and 2 Golden Sex Link. One of the BA's grew fast compared to the others but they are a larger bird. One of the BA's turned out to be a Roo so he didn't grow as fast at first. Still more trimmer than the other BA but taller than all my chicks including the ones that are 1 year old. He is only 19 weeks old.

 

[TripMomma]

Thanks

Yes, the 4 babies are all different breeds....EE, Barred Rock, Barnevelder and my runt is a Silver Laced Wyandotte.

I will just keep an eye on her.

 

[TwoCrows]

X2 on Urban Flock. Babies grow at different rates so you can't judge them yet. Just make sure you have enough room and enough food around so there is no competition. Sometimes runts become runts because they are too shy to eat with the others or are being run off. So if you have to, add another feeder.

As for your chick with the breathing issue, she may out grow what ever this is. I had a BR chick last year that made strange breathing noises in her abdomen until she was about 4 months old. Somewhere along the lines the noises disappeared and she is fine.

So just keep an eye on her. You are a good chickie momma!!

 

[Wxguru]

Don't worry about your runt. I had an australorp that was a runt...I was concerned enough about her health on day 2 to call Meyer and ask how to help her, as she was lethargic and wasn't acting right. A little sugar water via syringe and boiled egg, and 24hrs later she was running with the rest....first couple of weeks she was behind everyone in weight...now at 14wks old I dare say she may be the leader of the pack. She seems to be a bit more vocal than the rest and seems to be near the top on the pecking order right now.
The labored breathing of the EE is still a concern. Have you talked to the hatchery about it? They might be able to give some advice too....

 

[TripMomma]

I took a couple short videos of my problem breather. I'm scared to get too excited, but she does look a little better today. What do you guys think...do you see what I'm talking about? Does it look bad?

I tried everything to attach the video here after I uploaded it to photobucket, but nothing worked. I posted on my blog, you can watch it there if you don't mind. I would love you guys to actually see what I am seeing and tell me what you think.
http://tripmomma.blogspot.com/2015/02/sick-babies-shots-and-ice-cream.html

 

[TwoCrows]

I watched your videos. The chick is breathing a bit faster than it should however I had a chick last spring that was breathing just as fast. She is the one I mentioned earlier in a post that made noises in her abdomen when she breathed. She eventually grew out of it and her breathing is now normal. She is now 9 months old and somewhere around 4 months of age her breathing was at a normal rate and the noises stopped.

There isn't much you can do about this. Chicks mature at different rates so possibly in these types of chicks, the heart and respiratory system is slow in growing. In my chicks case, it all seemed to catch up over time.

So just give her time to grow. She may grow out of it, she may not. Not all babies make it to adulthood. But your chick doesn't seem to be suffering in anyway so hopefully she grows out of it as my chick did.

Enjoy her just the way she is.

 

[TripMomma]

Thanks. I do think she is improving. The first 2-3 days of this she was off by herself most of the time, yesterday and today she is back to spending a lot of time with the other 3...even back to bossing them around a little. This morning I saw her do a little running around and excercising her wings. I'm getting a little more hopeful that she may pull through.

 

[Wxguru]

Overall your chick looks fine and is acting pretty much normal. Think she will be ok!