Six Day Old Chick- Lethargic, dying.

[KindleTay]

Got it...try to give her some. Give her some water through a syringe. She may be dehydrated…

Yes, I did all of that. I mentioned in my post she did take a drop or two but then started to accept that she was dying. I held her until she died

 

[Debbie292d]

Yes, that’s what I’ve taken away from this so far. But hopefully I won’t be buying from a breeder again, at least not chicks! I’m trying to hone in my incubating with our barnyard mixes and a few eggs I purchased online (don’t recommend getting hatching eggs online…)

It's been a few years since I bought hatching eggs on eBay, but I did it 3 different times with 3 different highly-rated sellers. (I wanted different colored silkies, and nobody around here sells them.) The hatch rate is naturally lower, but it helps to put them in an egg carton and set them on your counter for about 12 hours before putting them in the incubator. I got about a 75% hatch rate, whereas, on my own, it runs about 90+%. We have an abundant rooster ratio, so I don't get any unfertilized eggs which helps. I didn't think it was so bad; if I was in need again, I'd have no qualms about it.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

My question, I guess, is... Is the warmer plate too far from the bottom of the brooder? Or was it likely her suffering from the effects of pasty butt? Or something else?Everyone else is lively and chirping, they are mostly under the warming plate but they do ZOOM out from under it to get food and water and socialize.

Sorry about your chick.
Sounds like she may have just been weak since all the others are doing just fine. She may have had pasty butt for a while before you got her as well. It's sad to lose little ones.

Is she on medicated food???? That will help. When one my chicks got lethargic I started to give medicated feed. When their chicks always have them on medicated feed, when they grow up take them off. Medicated feed is a safe way to Deworm your chicks without harming them. I’m praying for you!!

In the U.S. Medicated feed usually contains a minimal amount of Amprolium/Amprol which is a Coccidiostat. It's not a dewormer (anthelmintic).

 

[KindleTay]

It's been a few years since I bought hatching eggs on eBay, but I did it 3 different times with 3 different highly-rated sellers. (I wanted different colored silkies, and nobody around here sells them.) The hatch rate is naturally lower, but it helps to put them in an egg carton and set them on your counter for about 12 hours before putting them in the incubator. I got about a 75% hatch rate, whereas, on my own, it runs about 90+%. We have an abundant rooster ratio, so I don't get any unfertilized eggs which helps. I didn't think it was so bad; if I was in need again, I'd have no qualms about it.

I bought mine off eBay as well- 16 of them! One arrived broken. 5 of them had scrambled yolks. One was not fertilized. Right now I have three that are for sure alive and well, and three that are likely not but giving them a chance. Locked down the incubator today and hoping a few hatch on Saturday. Not impressed with my hatch rate this time around, but I’m sure it’ll be better using my own eggs. Every egg I put in from our hens to fill up the incubator is doing great and will hopefully hatch on Saturday!

 

[Debbie292d]

I bought mine off eBay as well- 16 of them! One arrived broken. 5 of them had scrambled yolks. One was not fertilized. Right now I have three that are for sure alive and well, and three that are likely not but giving them a chance. Locked down the incubator today and hoping a few hatch on Saturday. Not impressed with my hatch rate this time around, but I’m sure it’ll be better using my own eggs. Every egg I put in from our hens to fill up the incubator is doing great and will hopefully hatch on Saturday!

Oh my gosh, the three folks I bought them from, I swear I could have thrown the eggs at the wall, and they'd not have broken. They each had them wrapped in bubble wrap or shrink wrap or something, then all three of them had used the bottom of an egg carton with the top cut off and taped to the bottom. One cut each section of the carton out and did each separately. Then they all had tons of packing like popcorn or scrunched-up newspaper. In one batch, I too got one not fertilized, and that disappointed me as she didn't do as the other two had done as they sent an extra egg or two along just in case. I'm sorry you got rather gipped, but hopefully, the rest hatch, so you have something to show for it.

 

[Debbie292d]

Is she on medicated food???? That will help. When one my chicks got lethargic I started to give medicated feed. When their chicks always have them on medicated feed, when they grow up take them off. Medicated feed is a safe way to Deworm your chicks without harming them. I’m praying for you!!

What brand of starter has dewormer in it? I'd like to make sure I never buy it as chicks who haven't even been outdoors yet surely don't have worms.

Maybe you're thinking of puppies as oftentimes they are born with worms.

 

[R2elk]

What brand of starter has dewormer in it? I'd like to make sure I never buy it as chicks who haven't even been outdoors yet surely don't have worms.

Maybe you're thinking of puppies as oftentimes they are born with worms.

No chick starter has a dewormer in it.

 

[CKfarm22]

Is she on medicated food???? That will help. When one my chicks got lethargic I started to give medicated feed. When their chicks always have them on medicated feed, when they grow up take them off. Medicated feed is a safe way to Deworm your chicks without harming them. I’m praying for you!!

Where did you find information that medicated feed is a dewormer???

 

[Rurumo]

Medicated feed has amprolium in it, which is a coccidiostat, not a dewormer. The way it works is, it simply gives chicks the time their tiny bodies need to develop resistance against coccidia after exposure, so that they can survive the infection on their own in the future. It doesn't actually kill anything or prevent anything and it won't be enough if you start them on it after they've ingested a typical dose of oocysts. Chicks can actually be exposed to coccidia in a brooder inside with no contact to the outside soil, which is why it's so important to keep the brooder clean-the more poop they are exposed to, the bigger the potential dose of oocysts, which makes for a more deadly infection. If you don't feed medicated chick starter, you should be ready to dose them with corid if/when the coccidia catches up with them-I don't use medicated feed.

 

[Tuesday87]

Hi everyone-

I know this is not the first post about a lethargic chick- but I can’t quite get an answer anywhere.

My 6 day old barred rock chick (by characteristics I’ve sexed her as female) is likely not going to make it. This isn’t my first time raising chicks but I’ve changed just about everything from the last time I did them, last spring. I use the medical pads for bedding now to eliminate chicks eating pine shavings, which happened last year. I switched from a heat lamp to a radiant heat source for the brooder, and I've made their brooder much bigger.

We just got 24 chicks last night, which were 5 days old. We bought them from someone about an hour and a half away so it was quite a trip. I brought them home and made sure the warmer tray was working and that I put it at the right height. The instructions said not to allow any chick's head to touch the warmer plate, so I raised it to the second setting (out of three) because my biggest chick had to duck under it. The brooder had been warming up for about 20 hours before putting the chicks in it. I filled their water with hydro-hen for the night just to make sure we weren't going to have any dehydrated chicks, set up their food, and dipped a few of their heads in the water to show them where it was at.

I lost so many chicks to pasty butt last year because I didn't know anything about it. Every time I started to treat them for it, it was too late- they were already lethargic and gasping in the brooder. I was determined to do everything "right" this time!

When transferring the chicks from the box to the brooder, I checked butts. Anyone that was clean could go in, and anyone that even a hint of dried poo stayed in the box for cleaning. Out of the 24, I had 11 that needed to be washed. I think about 6 truly had pasty butt, and it was BAD. Probably about 1/2 inch of dried feces glued to their vents. I put vegetable oil on a q-tip and gently applied it to their vent and anywhere the poop was attached to them, and put them in the box together. I took them one by one and ran their bottoms under Luke-warm but slightly warmer water, dried gently with a towel, and then blew-dry them on low until they were puffy again and put them in a new, clean box. I'd bring them back to the brooder in batches of 3-4 so they didn't get too cold just waiting for everyone to join them. A few them did projectile poo as soon as the dried clump of poo washed away from their vent. After almost 2 hours of washing and drying, everyone was in the brooder and eating, drinking, and finding warmth. Everyone was lively and I felt so accomplished for catching it before it was problem.

This morning around 9 am I lifted up the brooder warmer plate just to check on anyone under it that I might not have seen yet this morning. There was one that didn't scurry away and just stayed there. My heart sank. I tried to give it a few drops of water and egg yolk but it wouldn't accept it, and I didn't want to drown her. She did take a bit of water but that was it.

When I took her out of the brooder, she felt cold. Like, her down wasn't warm from the plate. I don't know if maybe it is too high? Or if she was cold because she was dying. I am 100% certain that she was one I had washed last night because there was still an oily appearance to her tail end. She didn't perk up when I warmed her in my hands or my shirts, she just relaxed and kind of accepted that she was going to sleep until the end....

She did finally die in my hand/on my (pregnant) belly as I wrote this out. It never gets easier!

My question, I guess, is... Is the warmer plate too far from the bottom of the brooder? Or was it likely her suffering from the effects of pasty butt? Or something else?Everyone else is lively and chirping, they are mostly under the warming plate but they do ZOOM out from under it to get food and water and socialize. My house is about 68 degrees most of the day, I don't think it drops below 65. I can't help but think that I should lower the plate for now until they get a little bit bigger, but I also don't want to dehydrate and overheat all my chicks. Maybe after this batch of chicks I'll be a professional and just know everything!

Thanks for sticking with me!

I have some teenies and with the brooder plate I always start em on the lowest setting. Mama sits just about on top of em and im scared they will get cold! My hubby loves a cold house I have one in a similar way right now that im sitting with on a heat pad in my lap and have just fed her some raw egg yolk which ill likely do again in a bit. I think maybe she just got too blocked and I missed it (only 3/4 days old) and now needs to try to recover. It never does get easier- im so sorry for you fluffy loss