5 week EE chick acting oddly. should i worry?

[bobk]

I am brand new to chickens but have spent a couple years reading up on them before diving into this. I have 6 reds and 3 easter eggers all 5 week old pullets. For a couple days one EE, owlie, he is the largest bird of them all has been acting oddly. it stays off by itself, if other birds are in the run he goes into the coop. at night he stays out of the pack. when come and say "who wants grapes" thy all go nuts and flock to me except owlie. he stays off by himself. I just took him out and examined him, eyes clear, butt clear, be he appeared to be shivering little.i tried to hand feed him a grape and he took a few laps but clearly wasn't interested. can anyone give any advice or at least put me at ease?
thanks
bob

 

[Wyandottes7]

When chicks of his age start acting lethargic and not interested in food, I would first suspect Coccidiosis. Coccidiosis often affects chicks of his age. I'd get some Corid (Amprolium) as soon as possible and start treating. Corid comes in both powder and liquid. The dosage for the liquid is 2 teaspoons per gallon of water, and the dosage for powder is 3/4 teaspoon per gallon of water. Give Corid for five days.

Try to get him to eat. Try moistening some chicken feed, and try giving some scrambled eggs or raw egg yolk. Add some electrolytes to his water if you have any.

Hope this helps!

 

[bobk]

thanks very much. I was afraid it may be that but I didn't see any bloody poops. he/she did nibble some scrambled eggs and is a little active now. while I was out doing errands I stopped at 2 local animal hospitals to see if they had Corid. neither one would tell me and wanted me to bring the bird in to the vet. I asked if the vet had a lot of experience treating chickens and both places said no and none. So I basically said you want me to pay 75 bucks to some guy with no experience in chickens just to get an over the counter med sold at farm n fleet, I don't think so.
So I guess I have to drive a 100 mile round trip to Woodstock,il if I cant find it anywhere around Chicago
thanks again
bob

 

[Imachicklvr2]

If you can't find it locally you can try Amazon.com. I am not sure how expensive the next day shipping would be though.....

 

[bobk]

Thanks very much. As it turned out I didnt want to wait so the wife and I drove out to Montgomery Il to the farm and fleet. A first for this city boy. The place is great, people much friendlier than the stores where we live. the feed was over 7 bucks a bag cheaper than around Chicago. I got a nice rubber bowl for 4 bucks and some grit and enough Corid to share with anyone that needs it.

When we got home we made up a batch of medicated water and used a straw to give some to Owlie. she was thirsty and drank a lot of water. I put her back in g-pop with the other chicks and when I checked on them in the coop a half hour ago she was up and eating and drinking, a lot! She was also cuddling with the other chicks. I don't know if the medicine acted this fast or what but it is good to see her eating and drinking again. I will update on her tomorrow.
thanks to all for your help on this. even though I have only had them 4 weeks I could tell something wasn't right with her yesterday and today and I was worried
bob

 

[bobk]

Today was all good news. Little Owlie is back to normal, eating, running playing and chest bumping with the other chicks. In fact they all where really active and entertaining today. I am still doing finishing touches on the coop e.g. hang feeder, paint inside door, add more straw. Every time I would do something in the coop and leave all the chicks would run in there and inspect what I did. It even sounded like they where discussing it!

I do not know if the bird had cocci or not but it sure appeared that way.If so that Corid really worked. I still will put it in the water for 4 more days to make sure. Thanks to you all for your help. If you are in Chicago and need Corid let me know as I have plenty.
Bob

 

[Wyandottes7]

Glad it worked! Hopefully your chick continues to do well.