6 week old chick is lethargic

[Chido]

And we got poop! It was first a tiny bit, solid, mostly green, it looked normal though, as Rusty's poop has usually been solid. Now as I was feeding him a mix of yogurt and apple juice, he got restless, got out of my bathrobe (I was cuddling him as he is still in a bit of discomfort) and he got to my shoulder, and proceeded to poop a very solid poop, like 3 inches long, on my shoulder! darn you bird!


I must be crazy, I'm happy about chicken poop.

Edit: also I finally figured out why it was peeping/chirping so much, it needed warmth. Rusty didn't stop chirping in his sleep, even though 'd put him inside my shirt, until I put on my fleece robe and let him cuddle inside. Poor thing was cold and in need of more cuddling

.

I just noticed there is a black spot near the tip of Rusty's tongue. I can't see it well and I don't want to hold him too tight so I can open its beak, but is it abnormal for a chicken to have a dark spot on its tongue? He doesn't have any foul smelling breath anymore, so I don't know if I should worry.

 

[Celtic Chick]

I honestly cannot say that I've payed that much attention to a chicken's tongue before. It is very attentive of you. I do not know if it would be an issue or not.
I would say to keep an eye on it to see if it gets any larger.
I am glad he seems better & his bad breath went away. You're doing a great job as chicken mommy.

 

[DebiSmith]

About a week & 1/2 ago I posted my first ever BYC request for help with Splash who had been injured by a grownup hen and got good advice for treating his wounds. He is still in the kitchen, chirping and enduring his lovely BlueKote, but he doesn't seem to be taking food as well as he was. The posts on Rusty have been informative and I wonder if adding parakeet gravel would help Splash as well. He drinks but kind of stretches his neck sideways and shakes his head and bubbles out his beak. He seems to have a sore throat when he swallows?
Also seems kind of cool when I hold him. His owner gave him adult feed but ground it in a mortar first. I gave him some shelled, cracked sunflower seeds and he did enjoy them but might have regurgitated everything later (someone else said he urped a long wet mixture of feed and water but I missed that. I guess the appropriate thing would be to locate my previous post and update that and obtain some parakeet grit, but I could not help nosing into Rusty's story since s/he seems to be having some of the same issues. Good luck Rusty!

 

[Chido]

Oh my Rusty is starving today! He (?) tried to get on my desk wher I have some food, and the piggy has been eating a lot! I made breaded fish and rice for lunch today and I gave the chicks the leftover mix I used on the fish (basically egg and bread crumbs cooked on a pan). Rusty liked the fish, but looooooved the egg/bread mix. He still has a bit of issues swalloging (shaking head mostly), but he's much better today!

He's feeling so well he's helping me get ready for the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie!

HAR! (I actually wear that bandana because rusty likes to crimb my shoulders and he gets tangle on my long hair, and he also tries to eat my hair)

He's feeling so well that he went back to roost on his favorite spot *shakes fist*

 

[Celtic Chick]

Now I see why you really wear the bandana. To keep the poop out of your hair. LOL!

DebiSmith, grit is an essential requirement for chickens, since they have no teeth in which to chew their food.

 

[Mamahalo]

Quote:
Easy cleaning bandana is a great perch! LOL!

Sooo, I haven't given my other girls anything but crumble and mealworms for treats. When is it the right age to add the grit? They have to be about 2 months old now give or take a week.

What about whole rinsed and dried eggshells or whole cleaned oystersells to peck at?
(I want them to be as au naturale as they can be)

I bring in a new stick every few days for them to perch and peck... maybe they get some bugs that way too...

 

[Celtic Chick]

You can't get much more au naturale than grit. Essentially, it is rocks & sand, and as I said, it is an absolute necessity for a chicken so they can digest their food. If their food does not get ground up in their crop, they can get sour crop &/or suffer from malnutrition or any number of other health issues.
They need it as soon as you start feeding them things other than their crumble, although I don't think they might need it for worms.
What about whole rinsed and dried eggshells or whole cleaned oystersells to peck at?
Not at all the same. Shells/oystershell is a source of calcium for hens of laying age. It is soft & easily absorbed/digested by their bodies.
Grit is rocks. It is stored in their gizzard and is what the chickens use for teeth to grind up their food.

http://www.mypetchicken.com/backyard-chickens/chicken-care/chapter-4-caring-for-baby-chicks.aspx
Grit
Ever heard the saying "scarce as a hen's teeth"? That's right, chickens don't have them! Instead they eat tiny pebbles and store them in their "gizzard". When the food enters their gizzard, the pebbles grind it up to make digestion easier. For baby chicks, sand, parakeet gravel or canary gravel, available at your local pet store or grocery store pet aisle, will suffice. You can either sprinkle this in their feed or provide it in a small cup or bowl.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/content/knowhow/chicks/livestock+care+-+feeding+poultry
Q. Why do chickens need grit?
A. Birds do not have teeth to break down food for digestion. Food is swallowed whole and goes to the crop to be stored and mixed with saliva. The feed then passes to the stomach where it mixes with digestive juices. From the stomach, the feed then passes into the organ called the gizzard. The gizzard contains small stones, which the bird has eaten to help the gizzard to grind up the food for digestion. Nutrients are then absorbed as the feed passes along the intestine. The chicken must swallow the stones that the gizzard requires to grind up the food. Grit is the term for these tiny stones. Granite and cherry stone are two recommended grits. Limestone and Oyster shell are good for shell production, but are not acceptable substitutions for grit because they are too soft.

Q. When is it necessary to feed oyster shell?
A. When the laying hen’s diet is deficient in Calcium, the hen lays eggs with thin shells, or no shell at all. Selecting a complete layer feed such as DuMor 16% Poultry Layer provides adequate nutrients in the proper proportion and allows the hen to produce eggs with good shells. If thin shells become a problem, a supplemental supply of calcium should be provided. Oyster shell is the most widely used form of supplemental calcium. When oyster shell is to be fed, it is recommended that 2 lbs. of shell be added to every 100 pounds of complete layer ration.
Also on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gizzard

 

[Chido]

Well Rusty seems to be 95% ok now. He wasn't eating much today and pooped some rather whitish poop, which was of a decent size and solid. He was also quite restless and didn't want to touch his medicated feed, so i took him outside to the coop with Godzilla and Megatron. boy did he eat like a pig. His crop is full of medicated feed and the three of them are sleeping now outside in their coop. I'm gonna leave him there and see how he is doing tomorrow before I go to work. He still makes that head shaking when eating from time to time and "spits", I guess it still bothers him a bit to swallow, but he's not doing that penguin stance he was doing before and went back to be an annoying brat.

Thank you so much for all the help and advice! This forum is full of awesome people

!

 

[Walkbarefoot]

I had one (EE) that was so lethargic this morning, that I thought I was going to lose her... I treated her with RAW HONEY and within 3 - 4 hours she is running around and acting like nothing was ever wrong. The turn around was AMAZING!!!! I thought she was a goner! She is only 5 1/2 weeks old.