Peachicks Not Eating

[casportpony]

I do have Nutridrench and will add - I can add it to the mash, too. She likes the mash and the scrambled egg, so getting the vitamins in isn't an issue. the tough part is working all this "hands-on-time" during the day!! And I leave for a week next week, but I have lined up someone to take her. She isn't getting worse, so that is a plus! Vitamin E too? This chick will have to be named something like Vita-Chick!

I had a couple of chicks with a strange neurological problem, so I gave them both a little E two days in a row and they both got better.

-Kathy

 

[TwoCrows]

I do have Nutridrench and will add - I can add it to the mash, too.  She likes the mash and the scrambled egg, so getting the vitamins in isn't an issue.  the tough part is working all this "hands-on-time" during the day!!  And I leave for a week next week, but I have lined up someone to take her.  She isn't getting worse, so that is a plus!  Vitamin E too?  This chick will have to be named something like Vita-Chick!

I would do the E and Nutri Drench orally instead of in food. If you can, squeeze the contents of an E right into the mouth. As for the Nutri Drench, I would give her about 3 drops onto the mouth as well, 2 or 3 times a day. Alone, Nutri Drench is absorbed into the blood stream from the mouth and throat in a few minutes, where as in food, it has to be run through the intestines, which takes too long. So to get this going quicker, go this route orally. As Kathy mentioned, they will respond fast dosing orally.

And yes you might name her Thiamine or something silly like this. LOL

 

[CarlisleCluck]

I gave her the whole vitamin E, a couple of drops of NutriDrench this afternoon/evening (both orally). She ate quite a lot of egg and mash with help. I don't see her doing circles, but her head is pretty droopy. Her mash is just chick starter (not medicated). She had her recommended daily allowance of Selenium and Thiamine this morning. Her water has Save-A-Chick. Seems like a Flinstone chewable kids vitamin would be easier!! I was going to take a picture of the peahen and other two chicks earlier, but the time got away from me. I will try to do that tomorrow and share. One looks similar to this one in color, just a tad darker browns on the wing. The other is all yellow.

Another problem has cropped up...I have mice in the coop. I have caught 3 and almost had a fourth just now. I will go out later and see what I've got. Mama peahen is up on her roost with the 2 chicks under her....that doesn't seem safe, but I guess she doesn't want to be on the floor (because of the mice?).

Every day is an adventure!

Again - thanks for all the help and suggestions. Fingers cross tomorrow and Friday will show improvement!

 

[TwoCrows]

Good deal!! Keep all this up every day and keep us posted as you see changes in her. I will be anxiously awaiting all the good news!

As for the mice, they are a pain. See if you can figure out where they are getting in and block it off. I invented a mouse trap system you can keep inside your coop but the birds cant get access and stay safe. If you are interested, I can send pics.

I hope she is better in the morning, let us know!!

 

[CarlisleCluck]

That is easy - the mice are coming in through the 1" gap around the door - the door shrunk from when it was made. Please do send me pictures of your mice trap. I am nervous about the chicks somehow finding the traps.

Looking forward to tomorrow - fingers crossed!! I will be going back out before bed to check the traps and do a quick chick check!

 

[TwoCrows]

I think I have pics in the pc of my trap system I can post here or take new ones tomorrow. I am on my phone right now and I have NO idea how to upload with a mobile. LOL

Great....I hope the little one is a tad better tomorrow, keeping my fingers crossed for her!

 

[TwoCrows]

@CarlisleCluck How is your little one this morning??

I sure hope she is feeling a bit better today.

Ok...here is my mouse trap system....

We have hordes of mice around here, biblical proportions of them and 1 out of 3 of the carry Hanta Virus which WILL kill you. Years back, I got so addicted to hatching Quail and I became so over run with them, LOL, consequently I had to whip up quick aviaries for them. They were very varmint proof however I never could figure out how mice were constantly getting into the aviaries. The disposable type mouse traps are not economical when you are catching hundreds of mice a year and I couldn't leave live traps set and have the quail getting hurt by them, of course poison is not an option. So I had to think of something.

This is a very simple system which requires 2 blocks and one double cinder block, and two mouse traps.

The two flat blocks are approx. 14.5 inches by 6 inches, 3 inches tall. They each way approx 7 pounds?? The double hole cinder block is also approx 14.5 inches long, 6 inches wide and about 9 inches tall?? It weighs 20 pounds maybe?


You are going to chisel a mouse hole on the bottom like so...just big enough for a mouse to get in. Do this on both sides of the cinder block...




Set your mouse traps...ALWAYS bait them. I use peanut butter because it is very aromatic and attracts the mice. they have to work at the trap and it snaps them easily. I switched over from the standard mouse trap to these cheese traps. They are SO much easier to set than the old ones, they have less tendency to go off by themselves or on you as you are setting them and seem catch the mice better. Less chances of catching the mice by the legs or tail, usually kills them as they should fast. Set the release arm on the right side of the "cheese" for the most sensitivity, the left side is for less sensitivity and of course won't go off well. I also rub a bit of peanut butter at the entrance on the flat block, under the mouse hole you chisel just to attract them faster...


Assemble it...place the double hole cinder block over the traps and put the other flat block on top as a lid...




This box is heavy enough that birds can't knock it over, get inside and chicks can't crawl in the hole. Mice follow perimeters, so you will do best if you place it up against the wall close to where you think they are getting in. Mice come into your coop, smell the peanut butter and head straight for it. They go inside but don't come out. I was hoping to have a caught mouse this morning to show you in the box, LOL, but none this morning. I hate killing anything, but mice can't be in the coops. And the dead mice don't go to waste around here, I feed the dead mice to the Ravens. They wait each morning for their mice breakfast. LOL Sometimes you will only catch their legs or feet so be prepared to have to whack the mice over the head with a rock or something. Not a pleasant job, but I don't want them to suffer either. Usually they traps get them at the neck, dead mouse immediately. Check the traps each morning, and reset as needed.

Good luck with this mouse situation!

And keep us posted on your little one too!

 

[CarlisleCluck]

Update and pictures in a couple of hours. Too busy!!!

 

[CarlisleCluck]

Today's update on Thiamine the sickly peachick. Thiamine has now had 2 doses of Vitamin E (I squirt the entire capsule in...of course, most seems to end up on my fingers, but some gets in her mouth. I wipe my fingers on the food so hopefully she gets a bit more) and 2 doses of Selenium and Thiamine. Food is still scrambled egg, mash using non-medicated chick starter. Water has Save-a-Chick in it. I also try to get a few drops of NutriDrench in her twice a day....most ends up sprayed on me.

Her head is still bobbing. She is no longer turning in circles. But I think that she is much more logy today. Not much energy. Her eyes are never fully open. She didn't eat as energetically as she did before. Her eyes seem to be sunk in. Her wings almost continually droop down. Here is a sad picture:



The other two chicks look pretty good! Here they are...(the father is an India Blue and mom is a Black Shoulder):




Thank you TwoCrows for the mousetrap instruction. I have those "cheese" traps...I didn't catch any today, but I saw one. I will see if I can get the stuff for your trap. I am worried that one of the chicks will somehow get to the traps I have set.

 

[TwoCrows]

Thanks for the update on "Thiamine". I was hoping for more from her, but tomorrow is another day. Sometimes with vitamin deficiencies, things get worse before they get better.

Just keep up with all you are doing for a few days and see how she responds. Please keep us posted. Sending her healing vibes.

Good to hear the others are doing so well!!