6-week old chicken, brought home yesterday - lethargic, hasn't sat down, hasn't eaten

crowquis

In the Brooder
Mar 9, 2021
2
1
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Sorry if this is a bit rushed - all of this is happening very quickly and I'm very worried. We just brought home 18 6-week old chickens yesterday, and this chicken is the only one displaying this behavior.
- hasn't eaten; after we brought her inside, she made some effort at foraging and ate a tiny bit of feed and water
- hasn't sat down; she looked/looks extremely tired but she would only nestle her head into her wing and remain standing. Before bringing her in, she would always hide under a box (still standing). She has not left the ground either.
- usually was away from the rest of the chicks; she would come out occasionally but just wander around a bit and not feed/roost like the others
I brought her in and she is constantly chirping now - I don't know if I overreacted and am giving the chicken unnecessary stress. On the other hand, I feel like there definitely is something wrong because her behavior stuck out very clearly compared to the rest of the chicks. She resisted when I brought her in, so that might be a good sign? She still has not sat down despite looking very tired (eyes kept drifting shut, etc.) and is still constantly chirping. Pictures are from before I brought her inside and isolated her - she would just constantly be in that position. This has been going on for about two days now. edit: I have seen her poop once when after we brought her in - it seemed solid and fairly normal. I apologize that I can't be more specific right now, I am a college student and these are my dad's chickens, so I am trying to juggle this with classes while he is at work. I will provide more photos and details in an hour or so.
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Bring her in where she can be warm. Aim for 75F.
Feel of her crop - is it empty?
Photos of her poop would be good.

I would be inclined to treat her for Coccidiosis if the crop is emptying. Corid can be found in the cattle section of TSC. Liquid Corid dose is 2tsp per gallon of water and Powdered Corid is 1 1/2tsp per gallon of water. Give as the only source of drinking water for 5-7days.
 
Feel of her to make sure that she doesn’t have any air under her skin which could have been caused by an injury. They can suffer leaking air sacs if bumped or hurt. Get her drinking some fluids by dipping her beak into water with electrolytes or Gatorade. Look at her droppings for runny poops or blood since coccidiosis can be a problem at this age. Corid in the water treats coccidiosis.
 
Sorry if this is a bit rushed - all of this is happening very quickly and I'm very worried. We just brought home 18 6-week old chickens yesterday, and this chicken is the only one displaying this behavior.
- hasn't eaten; after we brought her inside, she made some effort at foraging and ate a tiny bit of feed and water
- hasn't sat down; she looked/looks extremely tired but she would only nestle her head into her wing and remain standing. Before bringing her in, she would always hide under a box (still standing). She has not left the ground either.
- usually was away from the rest of the chicks; she would come out occasionally but just wander around a bit and not feed/roost like the others
I brought her in and she is constantly chirping now - I don't know if I overreacted and am giving the chicken unnecessary stress. On the other hand, I feel like there definitely is something wrong because her behavior stuck out very clearly compared to the rest of the chicks. She resisted when I brought her in, so that might be a good sign? She still has not sat down despite looking very tired (eyes kept drifting shut, etc.) and is still constantly chirping. Pictures are from before I brought her inside and isolated her - she would just constantly be in that position. This has been going on for about two days now. edit: I have seen her poop once when after we brought her in - it seemed solid and fairly normal. I apologize that I can't be more specific right now, I am a college student and these are my dad's chickens, so I am trying to juggle this with classes while he is at work. I will provide more photos and details in an hour or so.
xNh-2COWax6yoPl8_LV3CX1vvV6eX22zxvVHpeopsi-Gu4TF_6QSM_tPYN-7rDIA8L83mj-I_arM6Gr60EOF7tJYSU5kJfU85w4dPAdvKeOgYpo0yB8NSJ6DzT6StI2KadgzQita

bQrvUGjGMBx3yp3JYiepTuubWyqOV0tEvzWdpLkr1G9jt068R3dCGtqbE8Wfxy79lqbjiXZV1grNUTWxUHwkG2Wu4tofVWjol1w8BvKQ6CqkSrsp4MfMDYR-vfYlZj4OZDJWPvVC
What exactly are you feeding?
Do you know what coccidiosis is?
 
Bring her in where she can be warm. Aim for 75F.
Feel of her crop - is it empty?
Photos of her poop would be good.

I would be inclined to treat her for Coccidiosis if the crop is emptying. Corid can be found in the cattle section of TSC. Liquid Corid dose is 2tsp per gallon of water and Powdered Corid is 1 1/2tsp per gallon of water. Give as the only source of drinking water for 5-7days.

Feel of her to make sure that she doesn’t have any air under her skin which could have been caused by an injury. They can suffer leaking air sacs if bumped or hurt. Get her drinking some fluids by dipping her beak into water with electrolytes or Gatorade. Look at her droppings for runny poops or blood since coccidiosis can be a problem at this age. Corid in the water treats coccidiosis.

What exactly are you feeding?
Do you know what coccidiosis is?
General update: She's finally sat down - we ended up putting a blanket over part of her cage and she settled down after chirping for a while. At this point, I'm more worried that I overreacted as my dad checked her crop and it doesn't seem to be empty - she seemed really distressed and kept trying to get out of the cage, along with the constant chirping.
Going back to when I had to leave her - I left her for around an hour with chick starter (Manna Pro Chick Starter Medicated Crumbles), water, and some lettuce but I'm not sure how much she ate. She did poop more during that hour, here are some pictures:
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I feel as if I overreacted and just caused her unnecessary stress, but her prior behavior still baffles me and I have no idea what to make of it. Compared to all 17 of the others, she was always distant, hidden under a box, and didn't sit down to rest nor perched (like the pictures in my original post, she'd constantly be in one of those positions). For example, I'd hold a leaf of lettuce and all the other chickens would eat from it while she'd just look blankly at it. I tried to see if it was my presence that was bothering her, but she still ignored the food.
Originally, the chickens were eating mostly lettuce and were provided some rice, so I brought out the chicken feed for her and she showed some interest in it. While she was inside she'd also show foraging behavior instead of eating the plate of feed - I noticed similar behavior while she was outside, foraging/pecking at the ground while there was food a centimeter away from her beak.
I asked a friend of mine who'd raised two chickens before and they suggested egg blockage, but I didn't feel like that was it as she didn't show signs of struggling to push something out (she was just completely still while she stood) and I wasn't sure if egg blockage could occur at 6 weeks old. I had also considered coccidiosis as it showed up when I googled her symptoms, but her poop looks normal and her crop didn't seem empty. I also checked for injuries, but couldn't find any air under her skin or noticeable injuries in general.
Thank you for all your help, I am a little less worried now that she is sitting down and resting. As I said, these aren't my chickens but my dad's - he grew up raising chickens so I am more confident now that he is home; I have never had chickens, so I am very much clueless when it comes to taking care of them. However, he is extremely busy and my mom doesn't actively take care of them, so it's mostly me looking after the chickens with the limited time I have between college work.
I'm not sure what to do at this point - we're keeping her inside for tonight, but would it be better to return her to the coop considering how distressed she was? Was there anything wrong with her in the first place, or is this behavior normal for some chickens?
 
I'm glad that she seems to be doing better. Birds usually do better with their flock so if she's alert and eating/drinking I would put her back since she's so distressed.

Without seeing the behavior it's hard to know, but it's good that you are being observant.
 
It is good that she is more calm. Do get her drinking, and I would try to place her back with the others. Can you look at a few articles here in our learning center on how to care for baby chicks? That might make you feel a little more comfortable in caring for the chickens when your dad is not around. Here is a link to many articles that you may like to read:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/categories/learning-center.11/
 

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