Chicks are lost in the mail. :( USPS has no idea where they are.

[Toshiko24]

I ordered my babies from Cackle Hatchery. 5 Splash, 5 Silver Laced, and 5 Gold Laced Cochins. They hatched on Wednesday May 21st and was shipped the same day. They arrived some time late the next day and I was able to pick them up first thing when the post office opened Friday 23rd. Sadly one of my Splash and the extra GL chick they put in died in shipping. They are 6 days old today and the surviving 14 are still here but I have been having problems with my Splash Cochins. Sunday one Splash was just sleeping and not eating or drinking and had no energy, so I boiled an egg and got him to eat some and it seemed to perk right up and has seemed fine since but yesterday another Splash is doing the same thing so I boiled another egg and got it to eat a little of it but this one is still very energy less today. Is it ok to keep giving them a little egg with no grit? I read that the egg had a lot of protein and what not for them. If I set it by the water or food it will get a drink and pick at the food a little but otherwise it just wants to sit under the light. Everyone else seems to be happy go lucky and growing fine.

This is them at 2 days old.

 

[3riverschick]

I ordered my babies from Cackle Hatchery. 5 Splash, 5 Silver Laced, and 5 Gold Laced Cochins. They hatched on Wednesday May 21st and was shipped the same day. They arrived some time late the next day and I was able to pick them up first thing when the post office opened Friday 23rd. Sadly one of my Splash and the extra GL chick they put in died in shipping. They are 6 days old today and the surviving 14 are still here but I have been having problems with my Splash Cochins. Sunday one Splash was just sleeping and not eating or drinking and had no energy, so I boiled an egg and got him to eat some and it seemed to perk right up and has seemed fine since but yesterday another Splash is doing the same thing so I boiled another egg and got it to eat a little of it but this one is still very energy less today. Is it ok to keep giving them a little egg with no grit? I read that the egg had a lot of protein and what not for them. If I set it by the water or food it will get a drink and pick at the food a little but otherwise it just wants to sit under the light. Everyone else seems to be happy go lucky and growing fine.

This is them at 2 days old.

It sounds like travel stress. No, it is not ok to feed egg without grit. Go get a small bag of chick sized granite grit. This needy one doesn't need food as much as it needs energy to thrive. Right now it is too weak to digest any helps you re giving it. Don't despair, do this:

Go to your local tractor supply or feed store and get a small bottle of either Pet Nutri-Drops or Poultry Nutri-Drench. These products are made by specialist Bovidr Labs. They do not need to be digested. They mainline directly into the bloodstream 50% uptake in 30 minutes. measurable in the bloodstream in 10-15 minutes. 99% uptake available in the solution. It is very concentrated. Just one drop by mouth every 8-10 hours as needed. Add 2cc's per gallon to their water for the 1st 2 weeks to get them off to a strong start. Use these usage and dosage instructions for either product. they are interchangeable. the 4 oz. bottle is plenty for your needs It comes with a dropper in the lid. Do not feed this chick probiotics right now. The mission is to use these products to give the chick energy to try and live. Once that is accomplished you can think about food. The chick can live on this for several days. Keep water handy. 2 of them one regular and one with the drop/drench in it.
Here's a fuller explanation: read post one:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/746509/how-to-deal-with-travel-stress-in-baby-chicks
Hurry now, you are running out of time.

and after your chick is better do this:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/891051/the-science-of-feeding-grit-to-poultry
Warm regards,
Karen

 

[3riverschick]

Goal:
We are trying to restart the efficiency of the chick's digestive tract... while giving it the nutrition it needs...
to keep it's metabolism from collapsing under the strain... of trying to maintain equilibrium without proper nutrition.

Once you get the grit, put it in a small dish for the chicks. Ordinarily you would sprinkle it over their feed. But this chick already has egg yolk inside it which we don't know if it has been able to digest. So, you want to give the Drench or Drops to give the chick energy. Then you want to make just the grit available so it has some to eat to help grind up the food it has already eaten. The other chicks will also benefit from this. Don't put any grit in the feed just yet. The other chicks can find it in the dish and you don't want the needy chick having to eat food right now in order to get the grit it needs. The needy chick can live on just the Drops/Drench for several days if need be. Grit, drops/Drench and water until you start seeing poop. Then you can give the chick feed with grit sprinkled on top. It would be great to give the rest of the chicks a dose or 2 of the Drench/Drops. Gets them off to a strong active start.
Best Regards,
Karen

 

[3riverschick]

Thought For The Day

Every neonate is a living G.I.tract. Think of them this way.
The health of the G.I. tract reflects the health (or not) of
the neonate. When we understand this, we understand
how to help them. When we don't understand this, we treat
the neonate symptomatically and often lose them as a result.

 

[Toshiko24]

Thank you for the reply! I'm off to the store now to see if I can find what I need.
I'll update on my babies health later!

 

[Toshiko24]

So I ran to the store and found some Life-Lytes Mega Tabs. Its a bottle of vitamin and electrolyte tablets that dissolve in the drinking water. (Its all they had.) I also found a bag of chick starter grit but the bag says not to start them on it till they are 2 weeks old. I mixed a tablet in their water last night and added a little dish of just plain water on the side this morning just to make sure Baby drank the tablet water. It seems to be helping. Baby isn't keeping its eye closed so much anymore and is a little more wanderrie and is definitely eating more then it was before and I have seen it poop more normal looking stuff, its not white and bubbly anymore but still little. The Splash that was doing this on Sunday is doing much better and is almost the same size as everyone else but Baby is ½ the size as the rest of them.
Baby is the yellow one at the top of the thermometer.


Thank you for the reply you gave me 3riverschick! It was all very informative and helpful. They are 1 week old today and we haven't lost anyone yet and I'm hoping it stays that way!

 

[valleychicks]

So I ran to the store and found some Life-Lytes Mega Tabs. Its a bottle of vitamin and electrolyte tablets that dissolve in the drinking water. (Its all they had.) I also found a bag of chick starter grit but the bag says not to start them on it till they are 2 weeks old. I mixed a tablet in their water last night and added a little dish of just plain water on the side this morning just to make sure Baby drank the tablet water. It seems to be helping. Baby isn't keeping its eye closed so much anymore and is a little more wanderrie and is definitely eating more then it was before and I have seen it poop more normal looking stuff, its not white and bubbly anymore but still little. The Splash that was doing this on Sunday is doing much better and is almost the same size as everyone else but Baby is ½ the size as the rest of them.
Baby is the yellow one at the top of the thermometer.


Thank you for the reply you gave me 3riverschick! It was all very informative and helpful. They are 1 week old today and we haven't lost anyone yet and I'm hoping it stays that way!

I can't tell from this picture but do you have marbles in the open water dish? If not you need to put some or rocks in the open dish. I've heard of a few losing chicks from them falling asleep in open dishes. I even put marbles in my chick water dish similar to the red one with the white tank you have in the picture until they are about 3 weeks old and stop doing the "fall asleep where ever you land" thing. Your chicks are so cute!

 

[Toshiko24]

Thanks!

I sure do like them! They were all afraid of the green dish when I put it in. My biggest Splash that is the only one I have not had any problems with so far (I call it Cry Baby) is the only one I have seen use it. Cry Baby seems to prefer the plain water to the medicated one. They have never done the 'drop and sleep' thing, they do like to crawl around sometimes though. They have a sleeping 'spot' up front by the light. One will go and sleep and the rest all run over and pile up and they all sleep, then one will want a drink or a snack and they all say "SNACK ATTACK!" and run to the water or the food. Its kinda funny. But no there is not any marbles or anything in the bottom of the water dishes. If they are not 'drop and sleep' sleepers should I still get some marbles or do you think they will be ok?
Also is it normal for week old chicks to start panting if their pen gets hotter then about 85F? I read that their pen was suppose to be at 95F.

 

[valleychicks]

Thanks!

I sure do like them! They were all afraid of the green dish when I put it in. My biggest Splash that is the only one I have not had any problems with so far (I call it Cry Baby) is the only one I have seen use it. Cry Baby seems to prefer the plain water to the medicated one. They have never done the 'drop and sleep' thing, they do like to crawl around sometimes though. They have a sleeping 'spot' up front by the light. One will go and sleep and the rest all run over and pile up and they all sleep, then one will want a drink or a snack and they all say "SNACK ATTACK!" and run to the water or the food. Its kinda funny. But no there is not any marbles or anything in the bottom of the water dishes. If they are not 'drop and sleep' sleepers should I still get some marbles or do you think they will be ok?
Also is it normal for week old chicks to start panting if their pen gets hotter then about 85F? I read that their pen was suppose to be at 95F.

I know I would use marbles or rocks in the water dish. I don't know about the panting in little chicks. We have a huge brooder that is about 2 ft by 6 ft so our 13 have a warm end and big cool end where I keep their food and water. I have seen my 15 week old chickens pant when they get hot outside and they usually find a cool shady spot to get in. They should be ok if the warm area in the brooder is 90 to 95 their first week and moving away to the cool end if they are too hot.

 

[jesusonhi]

This is an old thread but not a new problem. 2 out of 5 shipments don't arrive on time. I am currently awaiting a shipment that I am sure is dead by now. No scanning or anything. I am so sick of this.