Any way to convince a 4 day old chick to eat? added a pic

[cashdl]

Yes you can carefully open their beak. I will sometimes put a drop of honey in their mouth, because it gives them a boost of energy and who doesn't like honey. Fish eggs are great for babies. Put one small raw fish egg in the back of the chicks mouth. Fish eggs have lots of protein. Then give it honey every couple of hours followed by a fish egg. Hopefully that will give its system a boost.

Lanae

 

[ilikethedesert]

Hmm. How do you actually open the beak?

 

[Denninmi]

Quote:
It's not easy, they fight it. It helps if you can have someone assist you. One method I've found that helps is to slide something thin and rigid between the two halves of the beak and then stick your finger in there to keep it open. I used a small metal fingernail file, using the handle end, it proved about the right size and thickness.

 

[ilikethedesert]

I'll try it and honey!

 

[TreeHugger]

I got a d-uccle chick from the feed store about 6 weeks ago, it was not active and looked like it was going to die. I had to force feed it for a few days since it wouldn't eat on it's own. I mashed up a little wet chick starter, boiled egg and honey. I carefully used my nail to get the beak open and push a "little" of the mashed mix in. She is now a pretty little hen, although she is a little smaller then her friend, I think she will be fine whenever she grows up all the way. Good Luck!

 

[ilikethedesert]

That's great! I'm going to try for a few days. The chickie pecked at the honey! Only once, but it seemed to like it. Picts to come today!

Here's a picture. The brown one hatched on it's own on day 21. The white one is my intensive care chiky.

 

[JP101010]

opening the beak is tricky just because everythings so tiny. you can try it but likely she will squirm and wiggle her way out of a delicate head lock. as a last ditch effort you could stop by to a vets office with the chick and ask them to show you how to crop feed with a tiny tube and syringe. It will seem scary at first but if a tech shows you it will be easier to master.. and you purchase from them a tiny tube sometimes they use thin catheter tubing or a red rubber tube... Of course you wouldnt have to tube feed forever just until the chick gains more strength- and sometimes that can happen by days end with a full meal.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

It's harder to get a precocial chick to open up. In pigeons (haven't had the chance to own chickens yet), I generally wrap older squeakers who are not used to being hand-fed in a towel. That helps limit struggling a whole lot. Just don't put pressure on the breast area as that will limit breathing sometimes to the point of death. Putting pressure from above right above the wings is far more effective anyway, even in large, strong birds. Use your fingernail inserted in a way that it matches the natural curve of the beak, open, and use a pinky to keep open. At the very base of the tongue, there is a raised area around a hole. That is the glottis leading to the trachea and lungs. Do not get any food or liquid down that hole! Chicks that aspirate can die in minutes...nerve wracking, I know, but important to know. You can either stick food using liquidy formula through a syringe or smallish food pieces to the left of the mouth (your left), or you can put food near the tip of the beak and encourage the chick to swallow. Sometimes, for whatever reason, I find stroking the back of the neck can help stimulate the muscle so they peck more diligently. If that fails, if you still wish to feed at that point, you are looking at depositing food directly into the crop through tube feeding. There are some directions here:
http://forum.backyardpoultry.com/viewtopic.php?t=7933
It's easy enough to kill birds with this method (feeding food that is too hot, too cold, not enough liquid causing crop to impact, puncturing crop lining, aspirating, etc), so if you have someone who can show you how to do this in real life, that is really helpful and can lessen the feeling of guilt if something goes wrong. I agree with some that it sounds like this chick is not doing well. If it does not improve after receiving food, I personally would consider euthanasia. Regardless of what you decide, thanks for caring about and caring for this chick, and best of luck.

 

[7&8]

punk-a-doodle, you're awesome!

Nice, informative post.

ilikethedesert, I second punk-a-doodle's sentiments that you are good for caring.

 

[ilikethedesert]

Thank you. I don't have the experience to fill the crop myself. I'd be horrified if I messed up. I hate to let this little one fade thought. I WISH IT WOULD JUST EAT!!!!!!!