Lazy Chick?

[Gerry2011]

My chicks are a week old today and all are doing well except for one of the Delaware x Hampshire chicks. She was as big as the others, but now she is the runt. Yesterday after returning from shopping......we have to go 35 miles one way for more than basics.......I realized she was not leaving "her" corner. When I picked her up she responded by screaming she was being attacked by the alien monster and moved around alright, but when returned to the brooder she plopped back down in the corner. She does not respond to the chicken wars when treats are dropped in and gets run over which is apparent she doesn't like, but she won't move. Our local pharmacy doesn't carry children's liquid vitamins and the farm supply only had Sulmet which is an antibacterial which I bought. Mixed some up and gave her some from an eyedropper. She drank readily and quickly figured how to get it from the dropper. I gave her crumbles which she also ate willingly, but when returned back to the brooder she goes back to the corner and doesn't leave it. I put her in a box with food so she wasn't being run over all the time. She ate then climbed into the cup I had her food in and settled down. Where she stayed until sometime during the night when she returned to her corner. I have been going every so often and giving her food and drink, but how long can this go on? I can see it now...she is laying in "her" nest laying eggs and I am still hand feeding her!!!

Anyone have any idea what is wrong with this baby? Other than inherent laziness? You can see in her pictures she looks just fine.....well, she does when she's not in the corner, then she looks like she's dead!.

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[GardenState38]

Sounds just like the Faverolles chick I received last week.
She was wiped out from the stress of shipping, I think.
She was also the biggest when I opened the box, and now she's the least developed and just a hair bigger than the Bantam I have.
The others have wing feathers and tails sprouting, but she's only a tad bigger than when she first came, and just as fuzzy.
I also wondered if she could just be "lazy", because she seemed to be so much less active (slept a lot more than the others) and less interested in mealworm treats--she would run and hide in order to escape the fray!
Eventually she came around after I made sure she was getting enough water (I had vitamins and electrolytes mixed in). I administered it with a small child's medicine syringe-just a drop or two on her beak every so often.. I was more intent on keeping her hydrated than worrying about crumble. I figured there were vitamins in the water, at least.
Eventually, she got less "lazy" and began to eat... voraciously! She does seem to have a different personality than the others--much more shy, but luckily they all seem to get on, and even though she's a bit "off", no one is picking on her, and I hope that doesn't change!

There is also a product called Nutri-Drench that I am going to begin administering to her--it is a vitamin supplemen carried by feed stores.
The great thing about the internet is that you can buy virtually anything--even if your local store doesn't carry it--Amazon and Drugstore.com both carry PolyVisol and ship so quickly that you could have it in a matter of a day or two.
I'm not an expert, but I think the things most likely to help your chick are adequate hydration (water) and a vitamin supplement. I didn't give my chick Sulmet, even though I had it on hand, because there was no indication to me that she had any of the ailments that Sulmet is used to treat.
Also, my chick seemed to seek the warmer area of the brooder--You say your's is "in her corner" is that closer to, or farther away from the brooder lamp? If away, could she be hot? If under the brooder lamp, maybe she's cold?

 

[Gerry2011]

Thanks, GardenState, I never thought about ordering on line, even tho' I do a lot of online buys....du-uh

Am going to order as soon as I finish this. Her favorite corner is at the outer edge of the light so I assume that's her comfort level. She, too, doesn't like the commotion of "chicken games" and seems to wince when they run over her in her corner.

 

[GardenState38]

I'll let you know how things go with the poultry Nutri-Drench. I'm hoping it will give her a boost.
If you Google it, it seems to be tailor-made for our lagging chicks! There are several testimonials that say it's gotten their chicks back on feed and actually saved their lives.
Unlike crumbles, it's absorbed into their systems almost immediately.
Several feedstores in my area carry it, and I see it's also available on Amazon.

I check almost everything on Amazon LOL I've actually found many things to be cheaper on Amazon (I have Prime, free shipping) than at my feed stores! (Unfortunately, not Nutri-Drench)
Who even knew Amazon had poultry supplies, too!!

 

[Gerry2011]

GardenState38, the little one died today. I had ordered the poly-vi-sol on the 27th so, of course it hadn't arrived yet. For a day or so she ate, but didn't appear to drink so I hand fed her water, but today she was apathetic. Hate losing her, but am guessing it was a case of failure to thrive.

Darn it.

At least I'll some stuff on hand for future problems. I appreciate your advice.

 

[GardenState38]

OH, I'm so sorry to hear that!!

Who knows if the PolyViSol would have even helped her? Poor little baby!
You certainly did everything you could to help her along!
So easy to get so attached to the little weak ones, but now you can enjoy the others and appreciate them all the more.