- Mar 21, 2011
- 11
- 0
- 22
hello everyone,
i've scoured the forum looking for what could possibly be wrong with my chick, but i just want to make sure i haven't missed something. my little chick appears to be gravely ill, and i feel terrible because i think she's been sickly for a while, but i mistook her mild manner for a docile temperament. i'll try to be brief and give you all the history, and i really appreciate in advance any help and/or suggestions.
she is a 3 week old standard welsummer, i do not know her weight altho she appears to be the same size as the other welsummer i bought at the same time. she has always been the calmer of the two, preferring to stay on or near me when i handle them, which as i mentioned, i assumed was her sweet manner. however, a couple of days ago, i noticed that she wasn't moving around very much in the brooder, and then today when i took her out, she just sort of quivered in my hand. i've had her since she was three days old, and i would write in retrospect she has been "off" for a week, and noticeably more so in the past 48 hours. this is my first time raising chicks, so i feel just terrible that i didn't notice sooner that something was wrong.
she was in a brooder with 9 other chicks of the same age, and not a single one is exhibiting any symptoms as she. quite the contrary, they are little party animals. i have not noticed any bleeding, nor blood in her stool, and she lets me touch her everywhere without showing any signs of pain. there isn't anything i can think of that could have caused this situation.
she is on medicated chick starter, and she has access to fresh water at all times. today i've been giving her a little sugar water with a dropper, and i mixed water with her food that she barely has picked at. i also tried giving her some yogurt, which she was disinterested in. she had a couple meal worms on her first trip outside on friday (her three week birthday), and a little bit of grass, so i gave her some grit as well, which she ate.
her poop looks normal to me, altho very small. no blood, it's not runny, just teeny tiny. the only thing odd about it to me, is that the white urea part seems a little stringy, which i had not noticed before. also, i noticed tonight that her vent seems to be...undulating? i don't know the word, it's like it's puckering and her intestinal area seems a little bloated compared to the other chick. earlier, i massaged it and a normal looking cecal poop came out. additionally, she never had any trouble with pasting up.
i haven't administered any treatment because i don't know what to do. i would do whatever it takes to make her feel better.
i have her isolated in her own cardboard box next to the other chicks, with her little bowl of mash, some grit, and water. she is on newspaper and the temp reads about 85. i'd lower the temp, but she sits directly under the light (she has plenty of room to escape the heat if need be), and almost looks like she's shivering cold. her eyes are bright, her nose is clear, she's starting to feather out, you would think at first glance she was a beautiful welsummer chick. i'm so sad to report that she seems to be declining in front of my eyes and as i mentioned, feel so terrible that i didn't notice she was ill before.
i hope i provided a solid background, and once again any advice or words of wisdom is greatly appreciated in advance.
i've scoured the forum looking for what could possibly be wrong with my chick, but i just want to make sure i haven't missed something. my little chick appears to be gravely ill, and i feel terrible because i think she's been sickly for a while, but i mistook her mild manner for a docile temperament. i'll try to be brief and give you all the history, and i really appreciate in advance any help and/or suggestions.
she is a 3 week old standard welsummer, i do not know her weight altho she appears to be the same size as the other welsummer i bought at the same time. she has always been the calmer of the two, preferring to stay on or near me when i handle them, which as i mentioned, i assumed was her sweet manner. however, a couple of days ago, i noticed that she wasn't moving around very much in the brooder, and then today when i took her out, she just sort of quivered in my hand. i've had her since she was three days old, and i would write in retrospect she has been "off" for a week, and noticeably more so in the past 48 hours. this is my first time raising chicks, so i feel just terrible that i didn't notice sooner that something was wrong.
she was in a brooder with 9 other chicks of the same age, and not a single one is exhibiting any symptoms as she. quite the contrary, they are little party animals. i have not noticed any bleeding, nor blood in her stool, and she lets me touch her everywhere without showing any signs of pain. there isn't anything i can think of that could have caused this situation.
she is on medicated chick starter, and she has access to fresh water at all times. today i've been giving her a little sugar water with a dropper, and i mixed water with her food that she barely has picked at. i also tried giving her some yogurt, which she was disinterested in. she had a couple meal worms on her first trip outside on friday (her three week birthday), and a little bit of grass, so i gave her some grit as well, which she ate.
her poop looks normal to me, altho very small. no blood, it's not runny, just teeny tiny. the only thing odd about it to me, is that the white urea part seems a little stringy, which i had not noticed before. also, i noticed tonight that her vent seems to be...undulating? i don't know the word, it's like it's puckering and her intestinal area seems a little bloated compared to the other chick. earlier, i massaged it and a normal looking cecal poop came out. additionally, she never had any trouble with pasting up.
i haven't administered any treatment because i don't know what to do. i would do whatever it takes to make her feel better.
i have her isolated in her own cardboard box next to the other chicks, with her little bowl of mash, some grit, and water. she is on newspaper and the temp reads about 85. i'd lower the temp, but she sits directly under the light (she has plenty of room to escape the heat if need be), and almost looks like she's shivering cold. her eyes are bright, her nose is clear, she's starting to feather out, you would think at first glance she was a beautiful welsummer chick. i'm so sad to report that she seems to be declining in front of my eyes and as i mentioned, feel so terrible that i didn't notice she was ill before.
i hope i provided a solid background, and once again any advice or words of wisdom is greatly appreciated in advance.
