2-Day old chick, lethargic, dehydrated

[Cheekychook12]

@Cheekychook12 @Eggcessive Thank you both for your help. She didn't make it.

For future issues, what could I have done differently?

Sounds like it was pasty butt, I’m very sorry that happened
Check all your chicks butts very often for the first week, and wash with warm cloth if pasty butt appears
I think it can be caused by too much heat or too much food and not enough water but I’m not totally sure

 

[Es_In_Miami]

Sounds like it was pasty butt, I’m very sorry that happened
Check all your chicks butts very often for the first week, and wash with warm cloth if pasty butt appears
I think it can be caused by too much heat or too much food and not enough water but I’m not totally sure

Thank you. I looked it up just now since things have calmed down. Stress and temperature -- which makes sense here.

This was a weird hatch. The girls went broody and we left them with their eggs. The chicks have been hatching for several days now. The oldest is now 7-days. We had six hatch in total and they're still sitting on several more eggs.

The first three hatched within a day of each other. Let's call it day 1 and day 2. The fourth hatched on day 4, the fifth (one I posted about) on day 5. 1st, 2nd, 3rd were very active. Then we had the murder hen. One of the other girls became fixated with the chicks. At first she would just sit on them as if she had hatched them. Then, she decided (I guess) they needed to stay under her. If they moved she would pursue them. I went to set up the brooder and returned to a dead chick. I wasn't yet certain it was that hen.

Murder Hen as she is now known, was likely the culprit. Within the next hour she had killed a second chick. This time I caught her in the act. She was aggressively trying to herd the chicks. Weird, she sat on the body of the one she killed. I went on the set-up a separate space for her when I heard chirps. New chirps. The fourth had hatched. MH went nuts and started pecking at it under it's mother. I jumped in and pulled her out but she had already injured the chick and it was bleeding. Off to jail she went.

There was a LOT of stress in the nest. I removed The First and the Fourth the brooder. The 1st was super stressed, chirping in distress for hours. The fourth was weak and limp. We cleaned it up, applied antibiotic ointment to the wound and hand fed nutridrench every few hours. It too had pasty butt. This time, I saw it and was able to clean it up in time. The 4th is doing much better today!

Now enters the 5th. More chirping from the nest. Another chick, We remove it and it's dry. It is strong, active, perfect. Fast forward to yesterday. It's great in the morning. We go out for the day. Once back they got fresh water and new substrate (blue paper towels). She was sleeping (I thought) but reacted slowly (I missed that sign). I did not notice the poop on her butt.

Last night I go to check on the chicks and she does not move. That brings us back here. She passes.

We go to lock up the coops and hear more chirping. the Sixth had hatched. Still wet, we place it in the brooder. This morning, poop on its butt. She has been washed and seems to be doing well.

The first is doing great. The fourth is sooo much better, the sixth is perky. I think I'm going back to the incubator for hatching eggs. At least there I can control conditions and keep them calm!

Now, we're off to check for more chicks.