Aspiration pneumonia in chick???

[KLAM]

I have a 4 day old chick that I think has aspiration pneumonia and I need to know how to treat. Details- this chick had a rough hatch. It was mal-positioned with feet over head and I assisted the hatch. From the beginning it was totally exhausted from trying to hatch. It just laid in the incubator for the first 24 hours and I didn’t think it would make it. It had terrible splay leg from the positioning and I used the cup method to get its legs strengthened and after a day of that it was finally about to stand. I started drip feeding it both Nutri-drench and then sav-a-chick electrolytes. On the second day, it had an episode where it choked very badly on a drip of diluted Nutri-drench. I thought it was going to die at that moment but after maybe 5 minutes of choking it calmed down. I have continued to drip feed it and have added scrambled eggs. It is hungry and does eat a little bit but then afterwards it mouth breaths for a bit. It has also been sneezing a lot and it’s chirp is raspy. This morning it has started wheezing some. I’m a nurse and feel pretty certain this is aspiration pneumonia. I know tractor supply carries antibiotics but I’m unsure which is the best and how much to give. Any help is appreciated.

I should add that it’s a silkie chick that I hatched from my own flock. I’ve been hatching a selling chicks this year. I’ve hatched about 200 chicks so far and have no problems or illnesses. I’ve had just a few failure to thrive. This one is a runt from its rough start but hasn’t seemed to be failure to thrive because it does actually eat and walks around but it may be heading in that direction if it’s breathing doesn’t improve. I sold off the rest of this batch but kept it one buddy to keep it company and encourage it. The other one is growing and beginning to feather in and this little one is growing much slower.

 

[Barredbuzzard34]

Honestly I don't know much about antibiotics or dosage but I hope someone will be able to help you. How is your chick doing now?

 

[KLAM]

Honestly I don't know much about antibiotics or dosage but I hope someone will be able to help you. How is your chick doing now?

Oh thank you so much! I’ve only been using VetRx plus some electrolytes and probiotics. It’s breathing is getting better and is sneezes occasionally. I hand feed it scrambled eggs every 2-3 hours. I was able to finally get it to take a bite of wet feed. Hopefully we are heading in the right direction now. It’s a pretty feisty little thing but isn’t growing much. It still looks like a day old chick. But it isn’t giving up so neither am I. It’s buddy is super sweet to it. The buddy cleans it and does it’s best to mother it. It even tries to get up under its buddy like it would a momma hen. I’ll post a picture in a bit.

 

[Barredbuzzard34]

Oh thank you so much! I’ve only been using VetRx plus some electrolytes and probiotics. It’s breathing is getting better and is sneezes occasionally. I hand feed it scrambled eggs every 2-3 hours. I was able to finally get it to take a bite of wet feed. Hopefully we are heading in the right direction now. It’s a pretty feisty little thing but isn’t growing much. It still looks like a day old chick. But it isn’t giving up so neither am I. It’s buddy is super sweet to it. The buddy cleans it and does it’s best to mother it. It even tries to get up under its buddy like it would a momma hen. I’ll post a picture in a bit.

Good to hear that it's doing a bit better! Sounds like a sweet little pair.

 

[KLAM]

Good to hear that it's doing a bit better! Sounds like a sweet little pair.

Here’s a couple of pictures of the hatch mates. 10 days old. The little one tries to get under the bigger one all the time.

 

[Barredbuzzard34]

Here’s a couple of pictures of the hatch mates. 10 days old. The little one tries to get under the bigger one all the time.

Awww, they are so sweet. I hope your little one will continue on the road to recovery.