2 chick looks sick, behaving very strangely.

[Eggcessive]

If your brooder is large enough, then I would separate her for a couple of days with a small fence or screen where they can see and interact, but not get hurt. Then while you are present, you can let her in with them for periods of time to interact. Fortunately the pecking order arrangement probably hasn't occured yet. Around 4-5 weeks they are really pecking around trying to establish that.

 

[Phi Ratio]

Well, perhaps independent then of established pecking order, one of the younger pair is an absolutely beautiful Araucana who had both of the older chicks cowering within 15 minutes of her arrival at about 4 days old. We've named her Valkyrie. She's aggressive and goes for the eyes. It was during those first few minutes all together that it became clear we had a problem and took a closer look at this strange labored breathing. But Valkyrie is good with the other younger chick. So we're hoping that once the initiation is survived, it will be OK.

I'm not sure if we can pull off the fence idea in our brooder. I'll give it some thought.

 

[Eggcessive]

Think about a miniature tennis or ping pong net made out of netting or from vegetable/fruit netting, stapled to scrap wood or to your brooder walls.

 

[Phi Ratio]

Yeah. I understand the concept. I just don't think I can make it work in our little box and still have food and water available to both sides. So we just went ahead with our plan and put everybody in together. She got pecked a lot, but she did use the hiding places at first and it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Now it seems to have settled down. But with all four in there together, it's all the more obvious that I have three normal chicks, who eat, drink, run, play, and GROW. And I have one who does very little. She just stands there with her neck scrunched down, feathers sort of puffed up, breathing heavy. It's great that she keeps surviving, but I expect she'll kick the bucket soon.

 

[Phi Ratio]

This bird keeps surviving somehow. She isn't growing. She doesn't move around much. She just barely seems to subsist. But her feathers are growing and maturing, which is starting to look a bit odd on this bird that still about the size of a 2-week-old.

 

[IdahoPrepper]

Today is the last day in the recommended 7 day course of antibiotics. But rather than continuing to progress, she seems to have regressed in the past few days. The heaving breathing has returned to about the same level as shown in the video (which is not quite as bad as at its peak). She continues to eat, drink, and attack bugs when outside. But I can't say for certain if she has grown any more in these past few days. In fact, there is barely a difference in growth from the video, which was a week ago.

Her friend (now more than twice her size) has not shown any symptoms, which leads me to guess that there is no threat to the rest of the flock. So I see no reason to delay the inevitable reintegration of my 4 bird flock. I'm just not sure if she will survive the pecking. The two she is separated from are younger, but much more aggressive, and not any longer any smaller than she is.

So here's my plan... And please, if anyone has a better one, let me know... I've read on these boards that when pecking is bad enough to be a threat, prolonged separation or any direct intervention at best only delays the pain, and could make it worse. But making sure hiding places are available helps the weaker bird protect herself. In the brooder environment, I guess that means sticking random objects in there with them. The way I hope to give my sick bird a head start is by giving her "practice time" with these hiding places. So in the box with my sick bird and her friend (who also submits to the younger chicks though she's twice their size) we have some toilet paper tubes, small boxes, and a crook of a tree branch, and when we rejoin the group, those objects will be in there with them, and they will be near the food and water. My hope is that her head start will make her better at hiding than they are at routing her out of hiding.

Any thoughts? Better ideas?

I hate to say it but I had a chick that wasnt standing and shuttering and very weak. I just culled the chick and moved on. Then a second chick had the same problems. Culled that chick and bought some cocci meds to put in the water (corid 2.5ml per qt of H20) All 20 chciks started eating 3x as much food within 24hrs and had way more energy. I would treat all birds with corid oral. Feed the sick bird scrambled eggs and buttermilk. After treating with corrid give vitamin and probiotic water for the balance. You should see improvement with a day or two. Antibiotics wont help as cocci is not treated with AB's

I may be wrong as I am new to this but I have read a great deal here and I think this will help.

 

[IdahoPrepper]

Yeah. I understand the concept. I just don't think I can make it work in our little box and still have food and water available to both sides. So we just went ahead with our plan and put everybody in together. She got pecked a lot, but she did use the hiding places at first and it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Now it seems to have settled down. But with all four in there together, it's all the more obvious that I have three normal chicks, who eat, drink, run, play, and GROW. And I have one who does very little. She just stands there with her neck scrunched down, feathers sort of puffed up, breathing heavy. It's great that she keeps surviving, but I expect she'll kick the bucket soon.

Signs of cocci from what I have read......

 

[Phi Ratio]

I read through the symptoms of cocci again, and she rally doesn't seem to match. The other birds with her appear perfectly healthy. All poop is normal, excepting that hers are very small on account of very little eating.

Yesterday evening at last, her heaving breaths remained an exaggerated motion, but slowed, and her head began moving more with each breath. She lay down and began to get stepped on by the other birds. She tried to fight back once, but it took all her energy, and she very quickly began entering death throes. I picked her up to ease her passing, so she wouldn't get stepped on anymore. She took her last breath a minute or so later, but we could still see her pulse in her tiny neck. Her heart kept beating for about 3 or 4 minutes after she became still, which I found shocking.

The other birds cried out for her at bedtime (less than an hour later). But they calmed down after we held each of them. Since then, they seem very energetic. They had been sort of caring for her; taking turns cuddling near her, being careful around her, etc... until those last minutes.

 

[IdahoPrepper]

I read through the symptoms of cocci again, and she rally doesn't seem to match. The other birds with her appear perfectly healthy. All poop is normal, excepting that hers are very small on account of very little eating.

Yesterday evening at last, her heaving breaths remained an exaggerated motion, but slowed, and her head began moving more with each breath. She lay down and began to get stepped on by the other birds. She tried to fight back once, but it took all her energy, and she very quickly began entering death throes. I picked her up to ease her passing, so she wouldn't get stepped on anymore. She took her last breath a minute or so later, but we could still see her pulse in her tiny neck. Her heart kept beating for about 3 or 4 minutes after she became still, which I found shocking.

The other birds cried out for her at bedtime (less than an hour later). But they calmed down after we held each of them. Since then, they seem very energetic. They had been sort of caring for her; taking turns cuddling near her, being careful around her, etc... until those last minutes.

 

[Phi Ratio]

According to the experts, cocci runs its course in about 6 days, only half of which are usually symptomatic. At the end, the chick either survives and becomes immune, or dies, usually of blood loss. They usually spend the last day or two laying on their side, pooping some super nasty stuff. Our chick never lay on her side. She didn't even sit. She stood all the time, even in her sleep. And her symptoms continued 18 days before she died, still pooping very little, breathing heavily until the last few hours. And though it's very contagious, none of our other birds have had any symptoms. I appreciate your concern, but this is not what our chick died of. Here is a site that discusses cocci in more detail: http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/12/coccidiosis-what-backyard-chicken.html?m=1