2 Week Old Chick Losing Control

[Trenton H]

I have a two week old Black Copper Maran who has been a very spirited bird in the brooder. Very active and jumpy. All looked fine this morning, but about two hours ago we found him sitting kind of slumped in the far corner from the brooder lamp. He is slumping on his left leg/side, and while he still can move around, it is nothing like what he was earlier. He has had a good diet of organic feed, and clean water is always available. I moved him to a separate brooder, and gave him 1 roommate, but any noticeable change seems to be for the worse. Any thoughts/help would be very appreciated! At the moment it is not looking too good...

Oh, and the brooder is right about 92 directly under the heat lamp. And he was vaccinated for Marek's and Coccidiosis at the hatchery. I mail ordered them from Murray McMurray.

 

[nuthatched]

Turn down the heat to 80.
Any chance he could have flown into something ?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

A picture of your brooder setup would be helpful.

 

[Trenton H]

Turn down the heat to 80.
Any chance he could have flown into something ?

80 not 85? Today is 2 weeks from the hatch date.

There is a waterer in the brooder box, so he could have hit that. He always was trying to jump out of the brooder too when I take the wire top off. So it is definitely a possibilty he crashed into something.

 

[nuthatched]

80 not 85? Today is 2 weeks from the hatch date.

There is a waterer in the brooder box, so he could have hit that. He always was trying to jump out of the brooder too when I take the wire top off. So it is definitely a possibilty he crashed into something.

80, 85 if there's a place they can get away from the heat, a cooler area.
If
he just laying on his side? Can he move his legs or neck?

 

[Trenton H]

80, 85 if there's a place they can get away from the heat, a cooler area.
If
he just laying on his side? Can he move his legs or neck?

I am getting a picture of the brooders loading. He can move around, but not quickly, or gracefully. He kind of drags the left side along. HE can move the leg and neck, but atm is preferring to sit and slump.

 

[Trenton H]

Here are some pictures of the brooding setup. He is the black bird in the little brooder. I had (5) birds in the little brooder earlier, and (11) in the big one. The have been growing very fast, but I haven't noticed any issues with overcrowding. The heat bulbs are 75 watt reptile heat bulbs. He was in the big box when he became lethargic.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Yeah, the heat lamp appears to be heating the entire brooder. Is there any way you can angle it so it only warms one corner or one area of the brooder, leaving the rest of the brooder cooler so the chicks can choose where they want to be?

 

[Trenton H]

Yeah, the heat lamp appears to be heating the entire brooder. Is there any way you can angle it so it only warms one corner or one area of the brooder, leaving the rest of the brooder cooler so the chicks can choose where they want to be?

I can try to do that. Do you think that the one might just be overheated?

 

[Bigdumogre]

What is the temp of the room the breeder is in? The room I'm keeping my chicks in now stays in the 80's during the summer so after about a week I shut the heat light off for them and only ever heated one part of the brooder. After about a week i always see them on the cooler side of it and that's when I know for sure they don't additional heat anymore. But there is nothing better than checking on them in the morning when they are under a week old and looking like a sun around the heat lamp lol