4 Week Old Baby Crevecoeur Chick Breathing Heavy

[DuckDuckSook]

Hi there!
We have 4 chicks that are almost 4 weeks old. (1 Sapphire Gem, 1 ISA Brown, and 2 Crevecoeur). One of the Crevecoeur is struggling a bit. She's eating, drinking, and pooping, but she is breathing very heavy and she's not hanging out with the rest of the chicks in the brooder. She has been staying on the Mama Heating pad alone. I've put Nutridrench in the water. She isn't as big as the others and definitely not as big as the other Crevecoeur. (I've never had this breed before.) She doesn't have pasty butt. She had an issue when she was just a few days old, but we cleared it up. Her body conformation seems off, almost as if she is lumpy or misaligned. Is this failure to thrive or a genetic issue? Anyone have a similar situation and their chick grew up to live a happy life? I'm doing all that I can for her. I just hope she isn't suffering.

 

[Rose the Legbar]

Could you possibly post an image of her? She could be a failure to thrive or could have issues due to her vaulted skull. You can try to drop a few drops of the Nutridrench in her beak if you are comfortable with that. You are doing the best you can for her and we shall see how she perks up over the next few weeks. I have had experiences with seemingly droopy chicks that have thrived later in life.

 

[DuckDuckSook]

Could you possibly post an image of her? She could be a failure to thrive or could have issues due to her vaulted skull. You can try to drop a few drops of the Nutridrench in her beak if you are comfortable with that. You are doing the best you can for her and we shall see how she perks up over the next few weeks. I have had experiences with seemingly droopy chicks that have thrived later in life.

Thanks for your response. I'm going to post some photos and a quick video so you can see the breathing.

 

[DuckDuckSook]

So, you can see in the picture, the size difference between the two. I'm having a hard time finding a way to upload a video. This little chick is still eating, drinking and pooping. Not sure what is going on. The breathing is still heavy and I noticed that she doesn't really like lay down. She just stands or rests on the others. I don't know if that is indicative of anything. I've never had any chick do any of this and I've had many groups of chicks in my brooder over the last 5 years.

 

[williamsyard]

yes I have one chick that is smaller than the other three and also breathes heavily and has from the very beginning. We tried breathing treatments and that didn't seem to help and was very stressful for her so we stopped doing it. She has no discharge from her beak or eyes but does sneeze frequently and seems to have a hard time settling down to rest. When she lays down her whole body moves when she breathes. I talk to a vet on just ask and she said it may be something genetic. She eats and drinks and poops and I gave her egg yolk this morning and she seemed to like that. I was going to take her to the vet but it's $80 a visit plus whatever else they do and it seems that it may be a genetic issue so probably nothing they could do for her. I decided to just keep her and watch her. She often separates herself from the others to and when worms or other treats are involved she seems confused but she does eventually come in and partake. Hard to imagine what the problem could be I'm perplexed. we also tried Vet RX and that did absolutely nothing for her. We put it in her breathing treatments and also under her wings but it didn't help at all. They did get electrolytes in their water for the first three weeks. She just seems a little off all the way around

 

[DuckDuckSook]

Unfortunately, our little one didn't make it. She continued to fail to thrive. We did everything we could for her, but she ended up passing away. It's the first time we've lost a chick. It was hard, but I know we gave her a good life while we could. Our other 3 chicks are all thriving and growing and are now outside in their coop. I hope what I posted might be helpful for others looking for information about chicks that don't seem to be growing. I was hoping for a different outcome, but sometimes, things just happen beyond our control.

 

[williamsyard]

Unfortunately, our little one didn't make it. She continued to fail to thrive. We did everything we could for her, but she ended up passing away. It's the first time we've lost a chick. It was hard, but I know we gave her a good life while we could. Our other 3 chicks are all thriving and growing and are now outside in their coop. I hope what I posted might be helpful for others looking for information about chicks that don't seem to be growing. I was hoping for a different outcome, but sometimes, things just happen beyond our control.

ah - so sad. It's hard being a chicken mom. My little one that also was breathing heavy is still going, but much smaller than the others, and still breathing hard, but not as hard. Also, now we know that she is a he, so he will be rehomed this evening to a woman who works at Tractor Supply and takes in roosters. She has acreage. I'm so worried about him and wonder how long he will be able to make it.