Chick having trouble standing

[Sparrow Farm]

Good morning,

I have 30 Buckeye chicks that will be 3 weeks old on Tuesday. Last week, I noticed a couple with droopy wings that were acting lethargic, so I treated them for Coccidiosis as a precaution. On Thursday, I replaced the Corid water with Nutri Drench, which I gave them for two days. During the Corid treatment, the chicks that were dropping their wings and acting lethargic stopped dropping their wings and all chicks seemed happy and healthy. This morning, one of the chicks was laying on it’s side and didn’t try to run from me when I picked it up. I gave it electrolyte water, which it drank with no issue and put it in a separate brooder with food, which it is also eating very well. However, it seems too weak to stand. It is trying, but it’s right leg seems weak. Any thoughts? It is a smaller chick. Could the bigger chicks be starving it?

 

[jjaazzy]

How many days did you just treat with Corid and only Corid? It reads like you did Corid and nutridrech at the same time which would cancel out the treatment.

 

[Sparrow Farm]

How many days did you just treat with Corid and only Corid? It reads like you did Corid and nutridrech at the same time which would cancel out the treatment.

I did five days on Corid in both waterers, then two days with Nutri Drench in one waterer and regular water in the other container.

 

[jjaazzy]

Not saying you did anything wrong and that’s why you are having issues. Yes Corid water only for 5-7 days. Did the chicks appear to improve in that time? I think you might have switched gears too soon. I actually came in here today for a week leg chick that is 7-8 weeks old myself so maybe it’s unrelated. So the feathers of the other birds seem smooth and normal? Or do they appear crumpled? I think you did the right thing separating and monitor for now. Give it a few days see what happens.

 

[Sparrow Farm]

Not saying you did anything wrong and that’s why you are having issues. Yes Corid water only for 5-7 days. Did the chicks appear to improve in that time? I think you might have switched gears too soon. I actually came in here today for a week leg chick that is 7-8 weeks old myself so maybe it’s unrelated. So the feathers of the other birds seem smooth and normal? Or do they appear crumpled? I think you did the right thing separating and monitor for now. Give it a few days see what happens.

The ones that had droopy wings and lethargy definitely improved during the Corid treatment. I think they have good feathering, though some are feathering out slower, but I guess I don’t know about crumpled feathers. I attached some pics of the 29 in the main brooder as well as the one I separated. Do you think I should give them more Nutri Drench?

 

[jjaazzy]

My first reaction to the first picture I say "yes looks sick". The others altho hard to see cause the camera wants to focus on the wire seem ok. At three weeks and the amount of birds you have. What are your area temperatures right now. Most people are in a heat wave and I don't think you need that lamp, 30 chicks are little heaters. So unless for some reason you are in a glorious state of great cold temperatures. I say kill the heat lamp but do put some kind of low light in there. Its less stressful to the birds to have some light. Some believe birds need a certain amount of dark but when I have baby chicks they have low light and then when they go back to the coops I have an LED red lamp. No heat just comfort for the dark nights. Ok I am off topic. Keep the birds coop dry. Wet is the enemy. Any wet chips must be removed immediately and then replaced with dry. Wet warm breeds Cocci. As for the sick one, keep layering the paper towels so you always have the bird on clean. Don't bother pulling the bottom dirty out, you can do that in a few plus days just layer fresh paper towels on on top of the other. Go ahead and treat that one with the Corid, reduce it down to make a cup at a time and mix a new batch every 24 ish hours/ or as needed. Watch this bird. I think it just didn't get enough treatment and then when the nutra drench was used it just gave the parasite just what it needed to build back up again. Don't worry you will get through this. We learn by what we do and you will get many crash courses along the way. oh i didn't ask are you using medicated chick feed? So to recap. Medicated chick feed always available. Clean clear water only for the bulk of them that look great. Keep chicks dry. For sick bay, mix corid daily use that water only for the next 7 days and medicated chick feed. Should pull through quickly, you caught everything early.

 

[Sparrow Farm]

My first reaction to the first picture I say "yes looks sick". The others altho hard to see cause the camera wants to focus on the wire seem ok. At three weeks and the amount of birds you have. What are your area temperatures right now. Most people are in a heat wave and I don't think you need that lamp, 30 chicks are little heaters. So unless for some reason you are in a glorious state of great cold temperatures. I say kill the heat lamp but do put some kind of low light in there. Its less stressful to the birds to have some light. Some believe birds need a certain amount of dark but when I have baby chicks they have low light and then when they go back to the coops I have an LED red lamp. No heat just comfort for the dark nights. Ok I am off topic. Keep the birds coop dry. Wet is the enemy. Any wet chips must be removed immediately and then replaced with dry. Wet warm breeds Cocci. As for the sick one, keep layering the paper towels so you always have the bird on clean. Don't bother pulling the bottom dirty out, you can do that in a few plus days just layer fresh paper towels on on top of the other. Go ahead and treat that one with the Corid, reduce it down to make a cup at a time and mix a new batch every 24 ish hours/ or as needed. Watch this bird. I think it just didn't get enough treatment and then when the nutra drench was used it just gave the parasite just what it needed to build back up again. Don't worry you will get through this. We learn by what we do and you will get many crash courses along the way. oh i didn't ask are you using medicated chick feed? So to recap. Medicated chick feed always available. Clean clear water only for the bulk of them that look great. Keep chicks dry. For sick bay, mix corid daily use that water only for the next 7 days and medicated chick feed. Should pull through quickly, you caught everything early.

Ok, thank you for the advice! I will put her back on Corid and add more paper towels. I have been trying to do away with the heat lamp (we’re in the low to mid eighties, w/nighttime temperatures in the 50s/60s), but the chicks huddle together a lot when I turn it off (during the day, I’ve never turned it off overnight). Should I just turn it on at night and let them huddle during the day until they get used to it? The heat lamp has been hard to regulate due to the ambient temperature fluctuations, so I am constantly raising/lowering it. For the sick chick, the temp is around 87 right now.

 

[jjaazzy]

At 3 weeks their temp happy should be 80, I know it is a battle with keeping things optimal. But you have done a good job. Can you raise that lamp and move it to the side, so you have a definite warm cool set up. Wow that sounds like fantastic temperatures for us. So yes, I would for now use the lamp during the night. Where are the chicks in a garage? Is there a breeze? I have used a sheet over the baby cages to make sort of a tent to block drafts and trap some heat. But I am in hot Florida and although we have to use heat, we don't really have a battle with it. Back in the old days I use to use 100w flood lamps. a much kinder set up then the big wattage bulbs they use now. Sometimes I advise people to get the reptile heaters. I have not used them myself, but I have a friend who does with success. Another thing I like to do is get an old box turn it upside down cut a hole like a garage door and they use that to go in and it will also trap heat and create a wind block. Some groups use them some don't but when they are ugly they go in the trash. Let me know how it goes.

 

[Sparrow Farm]

Than

At 3 weeks their temp happy should be 80, I know it is a battle with keeping things optimal. But you have done a good job. Can you raise that lamp and move it to the side, so you have a definite warm cool set up. Wow that sounds like fantastic temperatures for us. So yes, I would for now use the lamp during the night. Where are the chicks in a garage? Is there a breeze? I have used a sheet over the baby cages to make sort of a tent to block drafts and trap some heat. But I am in hot Florida and although we have to use heat, we don't really have a battle with it. Back in the old days I use to use 100w flood lamps. a much kinder set up than the big wattage bulbs they use now. Sometimes I advise people to get the reptile heaters. I have not used them myself, but I have a friend who does with success. Another thing I like to do is get an old box turn it upside down cut a hole like a garage door and they use that to go in and it will also trap heat and create a wind block. Some groups use them some don't but when they are ugly they go in the trash. Let me know how it goes.

At 3 weeks their temp happy should be 80, I know it is a battle with keeping things optimal. But you have done a good job. Can you raise that lamp and move it to the side, so you have a definite warm cool set up. Wow that sounds like fantastic temperatures for us. So yes, I would for now use the lamp during the night. Where are the chicks in a garage? Is there a breeze? I have used a sheet over the baby cages to make sort of a tent to block drafts and trap some heat. But I am in hot Florida and although we have to use heat, we don't really have a battle with it. Back in the old days I use to use 100w flood lamps. a much kinder set up then the big wattage bulbs they use now. Sometimes I advise people to get the reptile heaters. I have not used them myself, but I have a friend who does with success. Another thing I like to do is get an old box turn it upside down cut a hole like a garage door and they use that to go in and it will also trap heat and create a wind block. Some groups use them some don't but when they are ugly they go in the trash. Let me know how it goes.

Thank you for the advice and the encouragement. I just raised the heat lamp for the sick chick, and moved the brooder cage so it is not under the lamp as much. The chicks are actually in a storage room on the back of our house. It is not drafty, but also not conditioned (no heating or cooling), so it’s been very hard to regulate the temperature in the room. The main brooder is actually 8x4, so there is a cool side (where their food and water is). I have posted some better pics of the 29 chicks as well as some pics of the whole brooder (taken when the chicks were younger). The set up has changed a bit as I could not keep up with using paper towels in such a big brooder. As a result, I made a platform for their food and water, where I still use paper towels, to help keep wood shavings out of their water, and I switched the other part to wood shavings. I change the wood shavings twice a week, and turn them and add wood shavings in between days of changing them. I have been to Florida in June before. It was very hot! We are actually supposed to be in the 70s a couple of days this week. If not for the chicks, I would totally be enjoying these cooler days.

 

[jjaazzy]

You are doing good, yes the paper towels will drive you nuts. I keep babies on it till it just gets to be too much and that could be 3 days or 5 days depends on how many I have. Last batch I had 200, 100 in each swimming pool and I think we were out of there in 2 days. I am in the rebuilding process since my flock got AI last October. That was horrible! Yes June July August September most of October November it's HOT here. My husband does A/C work so good for him. But I like the cold. What I do for the food and water is I put in a water system and the cups are high so that the majority of the kicking of wood chips stays out of the water. You still have to maintain it but at least it won't get so bad that they don't have water. I put little lifts in so they have to jump up on say a block to reach the water. The feed you can do the same put it up on something to keep the chips out but the feed is not a big an issue as the water. As for the wood chips. You can just keep adding a new layer of wood shavings over the other this keeps them on the new fresh stuff. UNLESS ITS WET! Wet has to go. Take all this stuff when you move them to the big coops and put them around your garden trees, bushes, or just dump it in a pile and let it mulch down. It is dynamite for the plants. Watch the temps. but also listen, if you can lend an ear to them without them noticing you and stopping what they are doing your ears are just as important as your eyes with the birds. You should hear happy little peeps, it's very soft and well happy. If you hear more of a screech high pitch panic sound they are not happy. I can always tell approaching something is not right, no water, ran out of food, someone stuck. Now, if they get suck for too long they will stop any sound so it's good to check on them.