Am I paranoid or is my chicken sick?

[ChickenGuy]

Good morning all, my 36 chickies came this morning! they are all have a good ol time running here, there, drink some, eat some, sleep some and repeat.

One of my little chickies seems to be pretty inactive though, he walked for a little bit, but all he wants to do is lay on the ground and sleep. ALl the others are eating and drinking and when the do sleep, they are standing and sleeping, not sitting and being inactive. Is he ok, or should I be doing something? Thanks for the advice!

 

[Buff Hooligans]

Is he a different breed than the others?

When I got a mix, the Buff Orp chicks were always falling over and sleeping while the others (Anconas and Silver Laced Wyandottes) were running around.

Hope he's okay.

 

[ChickenGuy]

I think he is a dorking.... I think, he's got the five toes and kinda looks like the picture, there are two other dorkings, they are pretty energetic. If I pick him up and move him to the waterer or something, he'll walk for a little bit, run to the light and lay right back down again... Hopefully he's just sleepy?

 

[birdlover]

I would put sugar in the water and make sure he drinks. Have you seen him actually drink? You have to dip his little beak in the water (very carefully and just for a sec) and see if he puts his head back to swallow. He very well could be weak from the trip and it's not unusual to lose one or two that way, I'm sorry to say. Sure do hope he recovers, sweet little thing!

 

[Nor*Cal chick]

I would have to agree with birdlover.
Make sure the chick is drinking water.
I had this when mine first arrived.
I noticed one of them was listless, and only sleeping.
I did have sugar in my water & dipped her beak in it several
times. After about an hour she was much more chipper.
I made a point of checking on her & dipping her beak into the water for the first few days & very soon she was just like all the others.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

If you haven't seen him drink or eat on his own, you'll need to help him. If you dip his beak in the water and he still doesn't drink, I would use an eye dropper to get a little sugar water into him. Just a drop at a time. You don't want him to breathe in the liquid, accidentally. Being dehydrated and having no fuel in his body can make him feel too terrible to eat or drink on his own.

I love Dorkings. They are one of my most favorite breeds and so very sweet. I hope he feels better soon.

 

[Pekin Hen]

When my chicks came out one also were inactive , just because he was younger than the others. Just give it enough food, water and heat. It should be getting better then.
Just give it time!

Annette.

 

[ChickenGuy]

Yep! you all seem to have been right, I got his beak in his the water and he drank a couple mouthfuls, he then proceded to waddle back to the light and lie down again. 20 minutes later and he was just as chipper and hyper as the other chicks.

I gotta give some props to McMurray and the USPS. To package 38 day old chicks, drive them almost 700 miles, and have zero losses so far. That to me seems very impressive.

 

[Nebbo]

What's the ratio/recipe for the sugar water? For hummingbirds I'm doing 4 to 1, is it the same for chicks? I have a listless Buff Orpy that I'm trying to beef up.

Thanks,

Neb

 

[GoodEgg]

I just noticed nobody answered you yet on the sugar water. I'm not an expert by ANY stretch of the imagination, but I don't think that 4 to 1 mix can be right for chicks. Hummingbirds need WAAAYYYY more sugar.

I was told by someone else to mix 1 part sugar to 20 parts water, if that helps.

Just wanted to pass that along, since you hadn't gotten a reply, and I was worried about using hummingbird levels for a chick. I hope he does well. Buff Orps were one breed we very much wanted, but I didn't want to wait until Mid-July for chicks so I had to do without this time.

Good luck with your chick!

trish