Aggressive? Dumb? Holding head funny, questionably not eating, 2.5 days old chick

[SarahLadd]

Looking for some advice. I think that I might be in a situation where I will need to put down a newborn, and I want to be educated before I make that choice.

I have a chick that's a couple days old that's been holding its head cocked to the side habitually. It's not severe enough to really notice if you're not looking for it, but once you see it it's hard not to. I've been observing the brooder and have watched it do some kind of unusual stuff. Obsessing over a zip tie holding the brooder box together is one, it will grab and pull and peck and scratch at this one zip tie until it's worn out. Another thing is biting the faces of the other chicks. If it's not obsessing over the zip tie it's picking a single victim and biting and pecking its face over and over, chasing it around as it tries to get away. I have yet to really confirm if this chick is eating and drinking. I treated the water with a vitamin supplement called Poultry Cell.

Is this chick dumb? Or aggressive? I think it clearly shows signs of a neurological impairment. Is this affecting its ability to learn? Is this something it can grow out of, or is this potentially permanent? When is it the humane thing to cull?

Thanks.

 

[nuthatched]

Wry neck possibly? Try separation with a screen, chick like to pick things.

 

[Tonyroo]

When a chick breaks from the usual behavior it's a early sign of poor brain development. If you kept it, it would be a special needs bird and not breedable.

 

[SarahLadd]

When a chick breaks from the usual behavior it's a early sign of poor brain development. If you kept it, it would be a special needs bird and not breedable.

What could this be caused by? The stupidity, I mean, and poor brain development. Could I be responsible for it through the incubation process?

 

[artbykarenehaley]

What could this be caused by? The stupidity, I mean, and poor brain development. Could I be responsible for it through the incubation process?

I would not blame yourself especially if you have other incubated chicks that have hatched successfully. Sometimes a congenital defect will cause strange behavior. If you keep this guy, I would not let it reproduce

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Is this chick dumb? Or aggressive?

I would contend curios, inquisitive, bold, maybe even smart. Aggression is NOT a thing at this young age. Chicks peck stuff,

I love poultry cell, but it doesn't mix well with water in my experience, so I mix it in wet feed.

The head tilt is definitely not normal. I would treat for wry neck, just because. There could have been a nutritional deficiency in the egg and this chick is such a survivor (also, probably a cockerel with that confidence).

The way you describe behavior, I would *expect* him to have discovered and be eating food. I have hatched a few chicks that copied the behavior of eating with others but were "too stupid" to make the connection and swallow no matter what I tried. They would act like they were eating but never swallow. Using Poultry Nutri Drench (my chick preference) in the first drinker of water extended their life just a few day longer before they would slow down and fail.

No, I think many things that are genetically inherited or congenital get blamed on incubation parameters. Things like splay leg for example or crooked toes.. many folks "fix" it, never to be seen again, and breed it forward, never connecting the FEW that hatch that way out of the entire batch back to the parentage and blaming it on incubation parameters.. How does that explain all the perfect chicks then from the same batches.. genetics, I tell ya.

Paint some colorful polka dots on the walls, add in marbles, or other colorful safe things to investigate.

The only real issue here to me is the head tilt.

Culling humanely, depends on YOUR goals. Culling now, it's done and no more energy spent. Breeding takes some hard lines to do it well.

Things that don't impact quality of life but should not be bred forward.. I cull at harvest time.

If I was keeping a "pet" flock, I would note that humane includes my own feelings and what I feel most comfortable with. No matter what I think I will do, each time is a dynamic situation. Culling chicks sucks, but I won't watch them die slowly either. Many can live happily ever after (until they die another day of course) even with the tilt.. He's got the bonus of one eye to the sky!

Putting down young chicks.. I wrap them in paper towel to snuggle up in my hand and hold them gently over the trash can, using a sharp pair of kitchen shears use the V to pull the neck a little taught length wise and quickly, firmly make the cut. The head does not usually come completely off but the neck is broken. The chick body will convulse or do a little death throw but it's an automated response not indicative of pain or consciousness. There are several threads on here about how to humanely cull a chick that may give a better description than I have or another method that you might prefer. The right choice isn't always the easy choice.

Sorry you face this, that's one cute baby, Congrats on your hatch!

 

[Tonyroo]

What could this be caused by? The stupidity, I mean, and poor brain development. Could I be responsible for it through the incubation process?

Sometimes it's caused by a defective sperm or the condition of it's environment to which the cells weren't paired correctly. I'm leaning more towards the sperm.

 

[SarahLadd]

I would contend curios, inquisitive, bold, maybe even smart. Aggression is NOT a thing at this young age. Chicks peck stuff,

I love poultry cell, but it doesn't mix well with water in my experience, so I mix it in wet feed.

The head tilt is definitely not normal. I would treat for wry neck, just because. There could have been a nutritional deficiency in the egg and this chick is such a survivor (also, probably a cockerel with that confidence).

The way you describe behavior, I would *expect* him to have discovered and be eating food. I have hatched a few chicks that copied the behavior of eating with others but were "too stupid" to make the connection and swallow no matter what I tried. They would act like they were eating but never swallow. Using Poultry Nutri Drench (my chick preference) in the first drinker of water extended their life just a few day longer before they would slow down and fail.

No, I think many things that are genetically inherited or congenital get blamed on incubation parameters. Things like splay leg for example or crooked toes.. many folks "fix" it, never to be seen again, and breed it forward, never connecting the FEW that hatch that way out of the entire batch back to the parentage and blaming it on incubation parameters.. How does that explain all the perfect chicks then from the same batches.. genetics, I tell ya.

Paint some colorful polka dots on the walls, add in marbles, or other colorful safe things to investigate.

The only real issue here to me is the head tilt.

Culling humanely, depends on YOUR goals. Culling now, it's done and no more energy spent. Breeding takes some hard lines to do it well.

Things that don't impact quality of life but should not be bred forward.. I cull at harvest time.

If I was keeping a "pet" flock, I would note that humane includes my own feelings and what I feel most comfortable with. No matter what I think I will do, each time is a dynamic situation. Culling chicks sucks, but I won't watch them die slowly either. Many can live happily ever after (until they die another day of course) even with the tilt.. He's got the bonus of one eye to the sky!

Putting down young chicks.. I wrap them in paper towel to snuggle up in my hand and hold them gently over the trash can, using a sharp pair of kitchen shears use the V to pull the neck a little taught length wise and quickly, firmly make the cut. The head does not usually come completely off but the neck is broken. The chick body will convulse or do a little death throw but it's an automated response not indicative of pain or consciousness. There are several threads on here about how to humanely cull a chick that may give a better description than I have or another method that you might prefer. The right choice isn't always the easy choice.

Sorry you face this, that's one cute baby, Congrats on your hatch!

I have a live stream still pointed at the brooder. If you watch the stream long enough, you can see which chick it is.

Thanks for this thoughtful post, I will give it more time and watch it closely.

 

[Tonyroo]

Is this chick the watermael?

 

[Eggcessive]

I would use the vitamins to treat the wry neck (torticolis.) It can be due to a vitamin B1 (thiamine) or vitamin E deficiency. The Poultry Cell or NutriDrench has both, but you may want to increase the E by giving a 400 IU softgel daily for a couple of weeks. I had one chick who pecked at everyone’s eyes, and an overnight separation solved that. Also my chicks are raised in a Rubbermaid fiberglass 100 gallon waterer, and they love to peck the sides to make noise. That is a little cutie.