Please help sick runt chick. Can't figure out the problem. NOW WITH VIDEOS, PLEASE WATCH!

[foxypoproxy]

Ok so i am going to try and summarize this all up.
Please excuse me if i forget anything, but i am very upset and frazzled right now.

OK so, on Feb 2nd i hatched out 5 polish bantam chicks.
The first one to zip took the longest and three more hatched while it had stopped.
It couldn't get out of the shell even though it had zipped almost all the way around.
I noticed the membrane was drying out so i put a straw through the vent of my hovabator incubator and added some water to it.
Eventually it hatched out. Then my last chick hatched out, backwards (pointy side).
That chick has a very long neck and is also pretty small but he has been keeping up with the others and seems very healthy.

The zipping chick, now known as "zip chick" has had a hard time ever since it was born.

It ended up being born with an unabsorbed yolk sac.
He could still walk around, chirp, eat and drink but had this thing hanging behind him.
I had to keep it in a tissue box in the brooder but away from the others so that they couldn't peck it.
Eventually it dried up and is below his vent.
I finally let the chick out with the others and since then it started doing this loud chirping like something was wrong (constantly).
I checked it for injuries and abnormalities and yet found none.

On and off it would look fine, then bad, then fine.
All along it has not grown at all like the others have.
It seems very weak and does not have alot of energy.
Its head often falls to the ground.
It is possibly a "runt chick".

Then it got so eat it wasn't able to walk or stand much and would scuttle across the ground to get places.
It looked like it wasn't able to get food and water by itself and was to weak to try.
I thought it wasn't getting enough nutrition so i tried to get some polyvisol but no where near me as any.
Then i called up my local feed store to see if they had any chick nutrients and they said they had no chick stuff in yet.
So finally i was able to get to petco and got "kaytee exact hand feeding formula for baby birds" that i heard you could also use for baby chicks.
So i have been feeding it that and water through a syringe.
I'm home all day long so i have been frequently giving it water so its definetly not dehydrated.

I thought it would have gotten better but its only gotten worse!

Its now day 4 and its legs are doing this thing that i almost thought was splay leg but its not.
Its almost like its too weak to fully stand up and it often hobbles and falls over.
I recently inspected its legs and found that it has weird indent on the inside and outside of its legs that the other chicks do not have.

This is the best picture i could get. I know its kinda hard to see. Its not a red line, its an actual indent.
I checked and none of the other chicks have this, so it can't be normal.

It also falls on its back alot and one time it almost looked like it was seizuring.
It twitches and sometimes shakes it head and makes me think its something neurological.

I was having hope that it could get better, but now its just looking worse and worse.
Sometimes it really looks like its suffering and i don't know what else i can do for it.
All the other chicks are fine its just this one.

This is my first time hatching chicks and its just really upsetting.
I wish i knew what was going on.
Can someone please help me!

 

[nurse_turtle]

The chick seems dehydrated. Food can wait, water cannot. You need to keep on hand a bottle of liquid vitamins called poly-vi-sol (without iron). It's in the pharmacy department. I put a dropper full in a cup of water and offer that by dropper. Allow the drop to touch the beak of the chick and he will take it in. Have you ever syringe fed a baby bird before? Are you sure it's going into the bird's crop and not it's lungs? It can be tricky. I would stop the feeding and only offer the vitamin water until he's stronger.

 

[foxypoproxy]

Ive been watering it more then anything so its definitely not dehydrated.
Its been just plain water.
I'm not opening its mouth and forcing it down but its drinking off the end of the syringe.
Its pooped so i know its going through
And occasionally i will feed it the baby chick formula mixed with chick crumble.
But ive been giving it water the most and very often so it isn't dehydrated

 

[nurse_turtle]

The baby needs electrolytes and vitamins. It's the sunken skin around the legs that made me think dehydration. If he's taking food and water, peeing and pooping, I would definitely add the liquid vitamins.

 

[foxypoproxy]

I've BEEN giving him vitamins and electrolytes in the baby bird formula that's what its for.
Its a watered down oatmeal like substance. Ive been giving it that with a syringe and normal water separately but on a constant basis.
And its only gotten worse.

 

[nurse_turtle]

I'm familiar with the baby formula, but for parrots and other hook bills. Chickens are not parrots. You asked for help and I have given my suggestion. The Poly-vi-sol has really saved a couple chicks and one adult chicken for me. The adult bird I used it for was near death from malnutrition and starvation and was much improved in less than a day. I hope your chick gets stronger. Runts sometimes just can't...

 

[foxypoproxy]

Its for all baby birds, other people who have raised chickens have used it for their chicks.

As stated above i had no other option "I thought it wasn't getting enough nutrition so i tried to get some polyvisol but no where near me as any.
Then i called up my local feed store to see if they had any chick nutrients and they said they had no chick stuff in yet.
So finally i was able to get to petco and got "kaytee exact hand feeding formula for baby birds" that i heard you could also use for baby chicks.".

I know your trying to help and thank you. But i just feel you are mentioning things i have already thought of, tried, or done.
Ive been giving it lots of water and nutrients but it doesn't want to eat or drink and its not helping the chick is just getting worse.
It seems like something else is going on.
Its stumbling everywhere and twitching like its some kind of neurological problem i don't know.

 

[foxypoproxy]

I took it out of the brooder so i could take some videos of what its doing.
I hope this may be helpful in figuring out whats wrong.
Ive uploading some videos so some of you can see what i'm talking about.
Its stumbling is getting worse and now it can't stand up at all.
Ive been feeding it water and nutrients and nothing has helped.
It seems neurological, but i don't really know.
It gets stuck on its back alot and twitches.
It just to be able to walk and stuff and this has come on so suddenly.

 

[rosegal]

In my experience you can only do so much for them. And, if it makes it, it may have some other internal problem and will die later anyway. So, sounds like you are doing what you can, keep doing it and you may be surprised.

 

[foxypoproxy]

Here's the video of the chick when it gets stuck on its back: