5 day old chicken limping, pooping clear and now dropping wing

[Basia St Clair]

Update 2: day 3:
She was trying to eat this morning and the other birds, now twice her size, were crawling all over her. Here poop looked normal. Yay!

I washed her eyes with warm water and notice on the right eye a very tiny wound at the outside corner.

She is isolated with nutri drech, vitamins, eggs and food. She is lethargic in isolation but I am keeping her here to observer for a day or two. She has her own heat lamp, food and water. Praying she can perk up.........

 

[Basia St Clair]

Update 3; Day 3:

Gently wiped Feathers eyes with saline water again - twice today. She seemed really disoriented after I did it but then perked up and ate.

She is still in isolation and its hard to tell if she is better or worse. With her eyes closed she stumbles about.

My guess now is failure to thrive. I cant put a bird down, I just cant. I dont want her to suffer either. Ugh...........

 

[Basia St Clair]

Day 4 update:
Feathers died this morning. I feel like i did something wrong. I didnt think that many chicks had failure to thrive.
I am so sad.
Here is what happened:
1) Started holding one leg up and limping - gave her vitamins and nutri drench and continued that course throughout her illness
2) was not thriving and eating, I assumed because of the limp
3) cleared the limp up, but then closed one eye
4) then closed both eyes - put here in isolation
5) eating and drinking less and less frequently, looked like her feather were outgrowing her body
6) Poop was white runny twice, but then would be normal, but very small
7) This morning she could hardly walk. Using wings to balance. Then fell on her side and started gasping for air and then died.

Perhaps I should have culled her (and I just dont think i could do that actually), but had so much hope.

My other 14 are doing fine - watching them very closely

Thanks everyone for your help!

 

[Outer limit]

Day 4 update:
Feathers died this morning. I feel like i did something wrong. I didnt think that many chicks had failure to thrive.
I am so sad.
Here is what happened:
1) Started holding one leg up and limping - gave her vitamins and nutri drench and continued that course throughout her illness
2) was not thriving and eating, I assumed because of the limp
3) cleared the limp up, but then closed one eye
4) then closed both eyes - put here in isolation
5) eating and drinking less and less frequently, looked like her feather were outgrowing her body
6) Poop was white runny twice, but then would be normal, but very small
7) This morning she could hardly walk. Using wings to balance. Then fell on her side and started gasping for air and then died.

Perhaps I should have culled her (and I just dont think i could do that actually), but had so much hope.

My other 14 are doing fine - watching them very closely

Thanks everyone for your help!

So sorry to hear about your little chick Just saw your post and recalled a similar situation with one of my chicks that came in the mail. All she wanted to do was sleep. I had to actually dip her beak in her water every hour or two to get her to drink. After she would drink, she would begin to stir around and eat a little. She also had pasty butt. It was definitely a failure to thrive issue. Thankfully, I was not working at the time and could keep an hourly vigil, otherwise, i doubt she would have made it. After about a week of this, she was finally drinking and eating on her own, although she still was first chick back under the brooder plate for a nap. She had some pasty butt for another 2 weeks, but it finally cleared up with daily butt cleaning. I literally just pestered her into trying to live. She made it, and earned the name “Feisty” in the process. She is now my spunkiest hen! You did all that you could, and the fact that your other chicks made it while you had to provide so much intense care to one is a testament to your dedication and success. Hang in there!

 

[Eggcessive]

Very sorry that you lost her. Shipping can be hard on chicks, some can be weaker chicks, and you did all you could for her.

 

[Basia St Clair]

So sorry to hear about your little chick Just saw your post and recalled a similar situation with one of my chicks that came in the mail. All she wanted to do was sleep. I had to actually dip her beak in her water every hour or two to get her to drink. After she would drink, she would begin to stir around and eat a little. She also had pasty butt. It was definitely a failure to thrive issue. Thankfully, I was not working at the time and could keep an hourly vigil, otherwise, i doubt she would have made it. After about a week of this, she was finally drinking and eating on her own, although she still was first chick back under the brooder plate for a nap. She had some pasty butt for another 2 weeks, but it finally cleared up with daily butt cleaning. I literally just pestered her into trying to live. She made it, and earned the name “Feisty” in the process. She is now my spunkiest hen! You did all that you could, and the fact that your other chicks made it while you had to provide so much intense care to one is a testament to your dedication and success. Hang in there!

Thank you so much! I was so hoping for the outcome you had . The other chicks are still healthy and thriving. I just had to let this one go. I learned a lot from this experience. This was my fourth time raising babies (first time from mail order) and the first time I've lost a chick. I've lost some later in life, but not at 10 days. It was heart breaking.