When I got my chicks in the mail on July 16th, one of the Australorps was doing very poorly. I was sure she was going to die that night, but she didn't, and I managed to nurse her back to health and re-introduce her to the rest of the flock just a few days later. All because of what you guys told me to do on this forum, so thanks!!!
But another of the chicks, a Faverolle, never acted like the other chicks (I got 10 altogether). She was eating and drinking, but she never ran around, and wanted to sleep most ofl the time. When I would bring in new food, everyone else would come running and chirping in excitement, but she would stay in her spot and maybe wander over after the others. She did sometimes walk around, and her crop always seemed to have some food in it, so I wasn't too worried. I did see her join the others at the trough sometimes, and sometimes she would come over and eat on her own. Her wing feathers grew, but her little body never did, and now that I think back on it, I'm not sure I ever saw her poop (hard to keep track of who's pooping when there are 10 little poop machines running around, though). So she got smaller and smaller than the others.
But, like I said, while I was a little concerned that she wasn't growing and she seemed so tired all the time, I wasn't too terribly worried because she was eating and was alert and chirping when she wasn't falling asleep.
Today her breathing seemed a little more labored though, so I put some food in a little lid and separated her so she could eat without worrying about the others (not that they pecked at her or anything, though, but I thought she might be intimidated). She was totally uninterested in the food, even though her crop didn't have much in it. I had some hard boiled eggs, so I let her have some yolk crumbles, which she slowly (over 1/2 hour) ate until her crop was quite full, so I put her back with the others.
I checked on her again this afternoon and her breathing was much more labored and she just had her head down, sleeping standing up. So I squirted some raw egg yolk down her beak, then a little bit of water with vitamins & electrolytes. She wasn't too keen on swallowing it, though, like the other chick had been. I separated her and kept her under the heat lamp. About an hour later, she still seemed the same, maybe breathing a little worse, so I gave her some sugar water. But she died in my hand a few minutes later. When she died, she leaked out some clear liquid from her cloaca, and then some thin white liquid (no brown at all).
Any ideas what might have been the problem? None of the others are exhibiting any symptoms, so I don't think it's something contagious. I'm wondering if her digestive tract was messed up. Like maybe when I wasn't there she was regurgitating the food instead of processing it, or maybe she just wasn't absorbing the food. Somehow it seems like she just slowly wasted away.
I'm sure she won't be the last chicken we'll lose, and we barely got to know her, but it's still hard.
But another of the chicks, a Faverolle, never acted like the other chicks (I got 10 altogether). She was eating and drinking, but she never ran around, and wanted to sleep most ofl the time. When I would bring in new food, everyone else would come running and chirping in excitement, but she would stay in her spot and maybe wander over after the others. She did sometimes walk around, and her crop always seemed to have some food in it, so I wasn't too worried. I did see her join the others at the trough sometimes, and sometimes she would come over and eat on her own. Her wing feathers grew, but her little body never did, and now that I think back on it, I'm not sure I ever saw her poop (hard to keep track of who's pooping when there are 10 little poop machines running around, though). So she got smaller and smaller than the others.
But, like I said, while I was a little concerned that she wasn't growing and she seemed so tired all the time, I wasn't too terribly worried because she was eating and was alert and chirping when she wasn't falling asleep.
Today her breathing seemed a little more labored though, so I put some food in a little lid and separated her so she could eat without worrying about the others (not that they pecked at her or anything, though, but I thought she might be intimidated). She was totally uninterested in the food, even though her crop didn't have much in it. I had some hard boiled eggs, so I let her have some yolk crumbles, which she slowly (over 1/2 hour) ate until her crop was quite full, so I put her back with the others.
I checked on her again this afternoon and her breathing was much more labored and she just had her head down, sleeping standing up. So I squirted some raw egg yolk down her beak, then a little bit of water with vitamins & electrolytes. She wasn't too keen on swallowing it, though, like the other chick had been. I separated her and kept her under the heat lamp. About an hour later, she still seemed the same, maybe breathing a little worse, so I gave her some sugar water. But she died in my hand a few minutes later. When she died, she leaked out some clear liquid from her cloaca, and then some thin white liquid (no brown at all).
Any ideas what might have been the problem? None of the others are exhibiting any symptoms, so I don't think it's something contagious. I'm wondering if her digestive tract was messed up. Like maybe when I wasn't there she was regurgitating the food instead of processing it, or maybe she just wasn't absorbing the food. Somehow it seems like she just slowly wasted away.
I'm sure she won't be the last chicken we'll lose, and we barely got to know her, but it's still hard.
