5 day old chick not growing as fast and very clumsy need advise

Pullet Pimp

Songster
11 Years
Jul 1, 2008
303
43
129
Ohio
I brought my chicks home and they have been great with only pasty butt in three which is all cleared up now (not the chick in question). I have one chick the kids named sweetie because she never runs when we approach the brooder and seems to enjoy being held, or so I thought. Now I am wondering if there may be something wrong with her. She is not growing as fast as the rest of the flock and at 5 days is almost half the size of the rest of them. I believe she does eat and drink fine and occasionally she will run around, but for the most part she just sits in the same area. I noticed when she walks she seems clumsy and does not dart around like the rest. I haven't noticed any breathing issues or mucus or any other issues with her. She just doesn't act like the rest. No one picks on her.

Tonight I placed her near the water and she did drink fine and the temp of the brooder is 92-96 degrees. I have included photos of her for you to see. When I looked at the photos I took to post I noticed the buldge in her neck and have been reading about an impacted crop problems with others in the forum. Could this be a possibility and create these symptoms? I don't use pine shavings yet, instead I have these mats from the hatchery and I haven't noticed anyone eating them, but they do pick at them. If it is an impacted crop how do I tell and how do I treat it? Should I give her Polyvisol to give her a boost? Video link at the bottom of the photos is of her walking.

PICT0791.jpg


PICT0793.jpg


Here is a video of her walking to the waterer. She can hop on the 2x4 block and get to it. The blocks are not normally there I just lowered the waterer and hadn't removed them yet.
http://s276.photobucket.com/albums/kk3/ohk9cop/?action=view&current=PICT0803.flv
 
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Her toes look dehydrated meaning I don't think she's drinking enough. Toes should be nice and round. Since it is only 5 days old... could be lots of things really, with my first guess being failure to thrive. Vits would help along with it's food and water but if there is no external problem.. hard to say what really is wrong.
 
I'd keep a close eye on her, I give milk and sugar in the water. Regularly be certain that she continues to drink.
 
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Do you give that to all or separate her and give it to her? A couple days ago I added a little sugar to the water for all.
 
I usually give it to all of them, but, I make certain to dip the beak of the non-thriving one into the fresh 'sugar-milk' first. We saved a couple of little ones that way. (My 13 year old son spent lots of time making certain that the sick ones drank often) They are thriving now.
 
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Well, I woke up this morning and went to the brooder to give fresh water and make sure the feeder was full, and found Sweetie dead. Another SLW was laying on top of the dead bird. Not sure if the SLW suffocated the little runt or if she was just mourning the death. I removed Sweetie and have to go to work, but will give the brooder a good cleaning tonight when I come home.

Guess I won't be giving her the Polyvisol and try to turn her around now. Wish I would have known if it was something I could have prevented or cured.

The kids don't know yet and we will have to break the sad news to them, that thier favorite chick died, when they wake up.

Thanks to Mahonri and silkiechicken for the replies, we tried.
 
We just had a chick die as well. The chicks are at my daughters house and we talked a long time about the why's. This chick was younger than the others and I think she may not have been strong enough to push in to eat and drink...even though there is plenty of starter on the floor of the brooder. I explained to her that it's very important to really observe each chick a couple of times a day. If they don't act like all the others, remove them and start a little ICU right away. They won't last long if they aren't eating and drinking enough...or if they need some extra vitamins or electrolytes...and don't get it. We live and learn...
 

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