2 Day Old Chick Panting/Breathing Heavy (Open Mouthed), Wobbly

[Arya28]

We just picked up 6 chicks at Tractor Supply (today) , and one of the ones we got seems like she could be having some trouble. She is at most 1-2 days old. She is a Bantam, her name is Blossom, and we think she is a blue or lavendar d'Uccle chick. We noticed that while she was in the brooder at Tractor Supply that she was wobbly, and we figured we might be able to save her (or at least give her a better chance than she would've had there).

She doesn't seem very keen on eating, she is breathing with her mouth open, and she seems wobbly. She can kind of stand, but she seems like she can't quite stand for very long without wobbling.

We immediately gave all of the chicks a few drops of aloe juice in their water when we got them back here (within the last 3 hours). And we also gave her some electrolyte water.

She just had white runny poop.

We have had chicks with coccidiosis before, and her poop isn't bloody. Does anyone have any suggestions we didn't think of??

 

[Arya28]

She just seemed like she was having seizures... any suggestions as to what could be causing this? Or what we could do? I know with baby chicks, it could be a lot of different things, and there is no way to really know... but I just want to make sure there isn't something we could be forgetting, because it's tough watching this and not being able to really help.

 

[kwphotomom]

So sorry your chick isn't doing well! I don't have any advice, we are experiencing something similar with one of our 10 day old chicks. Like you, we feel so helpless! Poor baby just has a hard time walking, very unsteady on its feet. The other chicks kind of scurry around when we reach in to pick one up, but this silkie just stands there and doesn't move st all. I hope someone here can help you with your chick, I'll be following your thread for updates!!

 

[junebuggena]

Pictures of your brooder setup? Symptoms sound like possible overheating.

 

[Arya28]

So sorry your chick isn't doing well! I don't have any advice, we are experiencing something similar with one of our 10 day old chicks. Like you, we feel so helpless! Poor baby just has a hard time walking, very unsteady on its feet. The other chicks kind of scurry around when we reach in to pick one up, but this silkie just stands there and doesn't move st all. I hope someone here can help you with your chick, I'll be following your thread for updates!!

Thank you kwphotomom! I am sorry to say, little Blossom passed on . She went through a period after having a seizure, where she lifted her head, opened her eyes, and wanted to drink some water.. we thought because of that, that *maybe* she would be ok, but shortly after that she had a period of about three more seizures before passing away.

We are kind of new to the chick thing, but we have gotten some over the past few weeks for the first time. In our first batch, we had one (from tractor supply) die of coccidiosis (and there is no doubt that is what it was). We then ordered quite a few online, and a few of them died in shipping, and then we lost a couple more. However, they all (tractor supply and online batches alike) seem to be doing well so far, knock on wood! With what we have been through with these chicks in the past couple weeks, this thread was pretty much a desperate attempt to see if there was something we weren't thinking of, because, hey, you never know!

We've heard (and read) about coccidosis preventatives and treatments (corrid, or natural preventatives like cinnamon, aloe juice, and oil of oregano), making sure the temperature is exactly right, having clean pine shavings, etc etc etc. We have been obsessive about this (literally!). We have settled on the most natural, organic things we can do for them (herbs, probiotics, electrolytes, etc.).. junebuggena, we are pretty certain what happened with this chick was not due to our brooder, mostly because she wasn't even in the brooder for a full hour before we noticed her problem had worsened. It was pretty bad at Tractor Supply, we just figured that maybe we could nurse her back to health, and that she would have a better chance than being left there overnight. Our conclusion is it had to have been stress from the shipping process.

Good luck with your silkie, I hope she gets better! <3 We didn't have a chance to try this particularly, but while researching this I read raw egg yolks could help, possibly with some yogurt (depending on what your opinions of giving chicks dairy is, there seems to be some controversy over that).

Good luck and hopefully things get better with your little one!

 

[kwphotomom]

Thank you kwphotomom! I am sorry to say, little Blossom passed on . She went through a period after having a seizure, where she lifted her head, opened her eyes, and wanted to drink some water.. we thought because of that, that *maybe* she would be ok, but shortly after that she had a period of about three more seizures before passing away. 

We are kind of new to the chick thing, but we have gotten some over the past few weeks for the first time. In our first batch, we had one (from tractor supply) die of coccidiosis (and there is no doubt that is what it was). We then ordered quite a few online, and a few of them died in shipping, and then we lost a couple more. However, they all (tractor supply and online batches alike) seem to be doing well so far, knock on wood! With what we have been through with these chicks in the past couple weeks, this thread was pretty much a desperate attempt to see if there was something we weren't thinking of, because, hey, you never know! 

We've heard (and read) about coccidosis preventatives and treatments (corrid, or natural preventatives like cinnamon, aloe juice, and oil of oregano), making sure the temperature is exactly right, having clean pine shavings, etc etc etc. We have been obsessive about this (literally!). We have settled on the most natural, organic things we can do for them (herbs, probiotics, electrolytes, etc.).. junebuggena, we are pretty certain what happened with this chick was not due to our brooder, mostly because she wasn't even in the brooder for a full hour before we noticed her problem had worsened. It was pretty bad at Tractor Supply, we just figured that maybe we could nurse her back to health, and that she would have a better chance than being left there overnight. Our conclusion is it had to have been stress from the shipping process. 

Good luck with your silkie, I hope she gets better! <3 We didn't have a chance to try this particularly, but while researching this I read raw egg yolks could help, possibly with some yogurt (depending on what your opinions of giving chicks dairy is, there seems to be some controversy over that). 

Good luck and hopefully things get better with your little one!

I'm so sorry to hear your little Blossom didn't make it . Sounds like she was suffering from something congenital, not a lot you can do in that case, and it sounds like you gave her the best care she could have had. Sadly, I don't think our little one is going to pull through either. He ate and drank just before we went to bed and seemed to be a little more eager to walk, I fell asleep hopeful that perhaps today he would be a little stronger and showing improvement. We woke last night to him chirping loudly, brooder was only around 83, I thought he might be cold so I cuddled him in bed under the covers to warm and settle him. He was quiet the whole time, so after an hour or so I put him back in the brooder. The chirping started back up again . That was around 4:30am, and when I went to check on him at 7:00 he was faintly chirping and weak. Won't stand at all, can barely move his wings,won't lift his head or open his eyes. Dipped his beak in water but he didn't even raise his head back to swallow it. The kids all said their goodbyes before they left for school, I just don't see him making it through the day. I really wish I knew what it was that is ailing him, to help him and also know how to protect my other babies. I'm just at such a loss. Since Christmas we have had 13 newly hatched chicks, all have been healthy and without any issues except this one, I just don't know what to think! He has acted off since the day we got him, so I'm fairly confident it isn't anything we did, I just wish I knew what is wrong with him .

 

[Arya28]

I'm so sorry to hear your little Blossom didn't make it

. Sounds like she was suffering from something congenital, not a lot you can do in that case, and it sounds like you gave her the best care she could have had. Sadly, I don't think our little one is going to pull through either. He ate and drank just before we went to bed and seemed to be a little more eager to walk, I fell asleep hopeful that perhaps today he would be a little stronger and showing improvement. We woke last night to him chirping loudly, brooder was only around 83, I thought he might be cold so I cuddled him in bed under the covers to warm and settle him. He was quiet the whole time, so after an hour or so I put him back in the brooder. The chirping started back up again

. That was around 4:30am, and when I went to check on him at 7:00 he was faintly chirping and weak. Won't stand at all, can barely move his wings,won't lift his head or open his eyes. Dipped his beak in water but he didn't even raise his head back to swallow it. The kids all said their goodbyes before they left for school, I just don't see him making it through the day. I really wish I knew what it was that is ailing him, to help him and also know how to protect my other babies. I'm just at such a loss. Since Christmas we have had 13 newly hatched chicks, all have been healthy and without any issues except this one, I just don't know what to think! He has acted off since the day we got him, so I'm fairly confident it isn't anything we did, I just wish I knew what is wrong with him

.

I'm sorry your little one isn't doing well.. Still, good luck with him. I know how it feels to be at a loss like that with chicks and not know how to help . He will be in my thoughts <3

 

[kwphotomom]

I'm sorry your little one isn't doing well.. Still, good luck with him. I know how it feels to be at a loss like that with chicks and not know how to help . He will be in my thoughts <3

We lost him last night. So sad, but I'm a little relieved that his suffering is over.

 

[Arya28]

I'm so sorry

At least he was loved, which is something a lot of chickens never have.