3 day old chick sick... please advise

[newchickmama84]

The garage is about 65-70 I will get another heat lamp today and make sure its near the brooder but not to close and of course make sure the chicks have plenty of room to get away from heat if needed. The other 3 chicks seem to look happy and were singing away! thanks im hoping i dont kill the rest of them i would be heart broken.

 

[Bambi123]

Do you have a small thermometer that you are able to keep at floor level of the brooder under the lamp? (to be able to monitor) If you add the other lamp, be sure to monitor temps under and away from the heat closely for several hours to be sure it's not too hot. Sometimes even away from the lamp it can get too hot for them if there isn't a lot of room in your brooder.
Im sure the loss of your chick wasn't your fault...I'm a new chicken mom too and am learning that sometimes chicks just fail...they can be doing fantastic one minute and crashing a short time later. I used to work as a vet tech and have had various animals all my life. You care for them and love them and do everything you can for them...it's sad to lose them but you have to make peace with the fact sometimes, despite our best efforts, we can't save them. I try to learn from these experiences. I spoke at length today with the hatchery about the chick that I lost over the weekend. We concluded that it is likely that she had an internal physical defect and was not able to process/digest her food, which if this was the case, there was nothing anyone could do for her and not outwardly visible. So please don't be too hard on yourself. It's not easy but sadly happens to all of us.
Keep updating on how your others are doing.
Oh, the person I spoke to at the hatchery suggested a good thing to do is to add a bit of boiled/mashed egg yolk daily (not the white, won't hurt them but little nutrition) as an additional/great protein source...she said its easy for them to digest, and they love it (you can feed out of your hand if you want to do it as a treat/tame them)

 

[newchickmama84]

Bambi123 thanks so much I will keep you updated!

 

[newchickmama84]

Well sad to report we lost a another chickie last night. It was the one I had a feeling like she wouldn't make it all day yesterday. We now have 2 left out of the 4 we bought. They are a week old today. The two chicks left seem very happy and look healthy I'm hoping they make it!

 

[Bambi123]

Aww, sorry to hear. Are these chicks you hatched? Mail/hatchery, local purchase?

 

[newchickmama84]

Local purchase we were given them for Easter from a grandparent. I'm hopeful the 2 we have left will pull through for us.

 

[Bambi123]

Hmmm, I wonder if it's just stress related or if there's another medical reason. Just thinking if you could narrow it down you could be proactive/know what to watch for with the others. Are they eating and drinking enough? Are their poo's normal? What kind of bedding do you have in your brooder? Were you able to get the temp regulated?

I wish you the best of luck...so far my others are doing great. Their personalities are really starting to show....they're so sweet.