Hi, just wondering if anyone has had a chick unable to walk at birth recover and be able to lead a relatively normal life?
One of my little Polish chicks was 2 weeks old yesterday, it pipped 2 days after the due date (a day after most of the others hatched) but didn't get any further for 24 hours and I could tell by its cheeping it was getting very weak so I helped it out. It really was weak and just lay on the floor of the incubator so I went to bed thinking it would probably die during the night. To my surprise it was still alive the following morning but couldn't get up. I wrapped it in a Chux wipe and put it in the brooder with the others but in a little open top box, still expecting it would die (unfortunately I can't kill them). The next day it was still alive so I gave it water from an eyedropper.
This went on for 3 days and each time I checked on it I expected it to be dead, (particularly as I had lost several of the other more healthy late hatchers by then!) but to my amazement it was still going strong so when I got home on the third day I made it up some lightly scrambled egg and soaked chick starter, which it scoffed down like there was no tomorrow.
To cut the story short, it is still going well and can now stand right up on its legs and feet to feed but I keep my hand round it to balance it when it starts to tilt. It can also stand well and even walk if it has something to lean on and I have been walking it for about 30 seconds with my hand around it each time I feed it, it moves forward ok with help but picks its legs up quite high like a toddler learning to walk. It can also right itself when it falls over with the help of its wings.
Yesterday I transferred it from the box I had it in (as it kept falling over when it moved away from the sides) to a long 'corridor' (in a brooder with some younger chicks as per the photo) which it can walk along, but only by rocking back and forth against the walls I get it out every few hours and feed it, (it gets very excited when it hears me coming!) and I give it water from the medicine dropper as I am still feeding it chick starter and the egg, but dry not damped down.
My access is limited here to specialized nutrition, but I am sure I should be feeding it something more, or am I just totally wasting my time and just prolonging the inevitable? Normally I would have already asked my neighbor to put it down but it just seems to have such a strong will to survive I can't bring myself to do it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated please?
One of my little Polish chicks was 2 weeks old yesterday, it pipped 2 days after the due date (a day after most of the others hatched) but didn't get any further for 24 hours and I could tell by its cheeping it was getting very weak so I helped it out. It really was weak and just lay on the floor of the incubator so I went to bed thinking it would probably die during the night. To my surprise it was still alive the following morning but couldn't get up. I wrapped it in a Chux wipe and put it in the brooder with the others but in a little open top box, still expecting it would die (unfortunately I can't kill them). The next day it was still alive so I gave it water from an eyedropper.
This went on for 3 days and each time I checked on it I expected it to be dead, (particularly as I had lost several of the other more healthy late hatchers by then!) but to my amazement it was still going strong so when I got home on the third day I made it up some lightly scrambled egg and soaked chick starter, which it scoffed down like there was no tomorrow.
To cut the story short, it is still going well and can now stand right up on its legs and feet to feed but I keep my hand round it to balance it when it starts to tilt. It can also stand well and even walk if it has something to lean on and I have been walking it for about 30 seconds with my hand around it each time I feed it, it moves forward ok with help but picks its legs up quite high like a toddler learning to walk. It can also right itself when it falls over with the help of its wings.
Yesterday I transferred it from the box I had it in (as it kept falling over when it moved away from the sides) to a long 'corridor' (in a brooder with some younger chicks as per the photo) which it can walk along, but only by rocking back and forth against the walls I get it out every few hours and feed it, (it gets very excited when it hears me coming!) and I give it water from the medicine dropper as I am still feeding it chick starter and the egg, but dry not damped down.
My access is limited here to specialized nutrition, but I am sure I should be feeding it something more, or am I just totally wasting my time and just prolonging the inevitable? Normally I would have already asked my neighbor to put it down but it just seems to have such a strong will to survive I can't bring myself to do it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated please?