Reviews by Riche Bronson

One of my chicks was suffering from this (among other things, she was also toppling over and couldn’t walk, had a severe case of pasty butt, etc., as I believe she came from an unhealthy/poorly fed mother). I was advised to cull her- but I just couldn’t do it. I used the polvisol baby drops (without iron like you mentioned) and molasses on boiled egg yolk -the latter two several times a day, and the vitamins twice a day as your article states, along with chick starter medicated feed. Perhaps because I researched, found that information, and acted quickly, there was marked improvements in less than a week! She ended up being a very healthy (and cocky and chatty) little silver duck wing OEB- and my favorite and most special little girl. Her name is Midge. (As in “midget”- she was smaller than is even normal for an OEB from starting out her little life sick.) We bonded thru the experience of getting her better. Anyway just wanted to add that egg yolk is always really good for baby chicks too, (and that vitamin defincencies are the cause/cure of MANY problems in chicks/chickens) as it’s what nature intended, and has everything a chick/chicken needs. She got the yolks from the eggs of my very healthy, well fed girls which were obviously a lot better than the yolk her poor mom provided. So sad! But glad to see you put this info out here and all in one place! Wish I’d had found it then, as it took literally hours of research over the course of two days, to find it myself. (That research did lead to my first discovery of BYC, tho- and it’s been a godsend! So imperative for people raising chickens/birds!!) Thanks for all you BYC contributors do! All of us out here sure appreciate you so generously sharing your knowledge and experiences!

There will come a time you’ll need this information, no matter how much of an idealist you are! Haha! Reading this just saved my girls a lot of discomfort (I’m more than fairly certain I’d have stuck it down the trachea- had I not asked and was then kindly referred to this article!) saved me a lot of stress, and frustration, and it also likely saved some fairly expensive medication! The only negative- it robbed my neighbors of an hours long, free (and ridiculous/embarrassing) entertainment! Now I can go handle it like an old pro!

It’s so nice to have this resource as a whole- Backyard Chickens- but the time and knowledge that the individual people here generously donate to help all of us, and our birds, by answering questions, providing literature, resources, advice... and even writing articles, are just incredible! Thanks so much! Don’t know what I would have done without you guys many times!! You’ve made this whole experience so much easier, more enjoyable, probably saved the girls some interesting experiments, and saved me a lot of money, from a lot of guilt and heartache too! Thanks again!!