3-day old chick with eyes shut, won't eat

[Mammachix]

Hi,

We hatched seven chicks over the weekend. They were all doing fine, but one of them is fading. I syringe fed her sugar water and some electrolyte water yesterday and she has perked up quite a bit. She will now drink on her own and instead of lying down she is standing. However, she won't eat. She will peck at food but doesn't actually eat any. I've tried crumbled egg yolk with and without yogurt, softened mash, smaller crumbles, egg white, and shredded cheese (read it in another post). She mostly just stands in her broody box (has her own box now within the overall brooder) and has her eyes closed and sways. When I am holding her to encourage drinking, she will take a sip, swallow and close her eyes like she is going to pass out. Then she will open them and take another sip. She is a wobbly walker, but doesn't seem to have slayed legs. She does have just one curly toe. I was thinking of making her a shoe, but I'm afraid it will dissuade her from moving even further.

Not feeling hopeful, but hoping to get some new ideas, or at least learn from your experience.

thanks!

 

[keesmom]

Sometimes one just fails to thrive. It just happens, it's not your fault.

 

[PioneerPrincess]

When I have a chick that won't eat, what I'll do is make a chick mash, which is just really watered down chick feed. Then I'll make itty bitty pellets and hand feed (probably force it in through the side of the beak) the chick about three to five pellets several times a day. I'd also give them several drops of Poly-Vi-Sol without Iron. After you've been doing it for a bit, maybe a week or so, they get the point and realize they're hungry and want to eat. I hope your little chickie makes it. : )

 

[niqueie]

I'm a newbie but I unfortunately have been having some experiences with sick chicks. I force fed mine a little pedia-lyte mixed with yogurt and some (2 drops) vitamins from poly-vi-sol from a medicine dropper. Not sure if that helps. Good luck. It's so hard to see them struggle.

 

[paigeymeg66]

Hi well I have hatched many chicks maybe you need to put a little bit of sugar n its water and wet the food down lots then feed it through an eye dropper .

 

[Mammachix]

Hi everyone,

thanks so much for your replies. I ended up feeding her electrolyted-water from an eye dropper for a few days and the 'food' she liked best was raw egg yolk! That gave her a lot of energy. Yesterday she started to drink on her own and peck the crumble a lot more. Poops looked good. I was amazed that she made it. However, she is not growing much and still is pretty lethargic compared to the other chicks. I picked her up this afternoon to wipe out her pasty butt, and discovered she is a 'mushy chick'. I am trying antibiotics in the water now, but from what I've read on-line, they are not very effective. This certainly explains why she stands so much in the corner, she even sleeps standing up sometimes.

I'll post again with an update. If you have any ideas for 'mushy chicks' please let me know!

 

[PioneerPrincess]

Hi everyone,

thanks so much for your replies. I ended up feeding her electrolyted-water from an eye dropper for a few days and the 'food' she liked best was raw egg yolk! That gave her a lot of energy. Yesterday she started to drink on her own and peck the crumble a lot more. Poops looked good. I was amazed that she made it. However, she is not growing much and still is pretty lethargic compared to the other chicks. I picked her up this afternoon to wipe out her pasty butt, and discovered she is a 'mushy chick'. I am trying antibiotics in the water now, but from what I've read on-line, they are not very effective. This certainly explains why she stands so much in the corner, she even sleeps standing up sometimes.

I'll post again with an update. If you have any ideas for 'mushy chicks' please let me know!

Hmm...I haven't heard about mushy chicks before, though I did have a chick that had what sounds like a lot what you're going through with yours. Although, that chick was squished underneath the shavings and other chicks when she was shipped; it's amazing she even survived. She is as active as ever and a great layer (even better than some of our other hens). The suggestions I'm giving are based on how I took care two of my chicks when they were having a tough time; one of them had a pretty bad head injury, sooo it would make sense that she wouldn't be so active. It will take some time for your chick to grow and get her strength back. Then she will become more active. Just keep feeding her/ making sure she is eating and drinking so that she will get the nutrients and energy she needs. I know that my chicks would just stand around, not laying down. They would be pushed around and I even took one out so she could get some heat and rest. Maybe it would help if you separated yours and just put one other chick with her? Hope this helps! : )

 

[Cute Chickens99]

i am tottaly new but have seen this happen. i hatched 2 out of 6 eggs. the smaller one basically does what the bigger one does so i just got the bigger one to eat. the little one ate when it saw the bigger one eat. so find the role model of the birds and get it to eat. also keep the weak one near the role model. hope it getts better

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