Assisted Hatch?

[Shezadandy]

Can you give her a little sugar water and if you have it, a little poultridrench?
A 1ml dropper might be too big of a "sip" - what I did in reviving an almost dead mail-order chick is used the edge of a small zip tie so I could get just the littlest amount into the mouth where it could be absorbed- mine wasn't conscious enough to swallow and was barely breathing when it got here. Not sure how much it helped, but it might give enough of a boost to make drinking and eating easier. Also, you may want to grind down some crumbles into easier to eat sizes.

Edited to add: I'm talking about a single drop out of a 1ml syringe/dropper could be too much, not an entire syringe. That's why I put a little on the edge of the flat end of a zip tie (or something else narrow and small like that).

 

[LynnaePB]

I'd also consider giving a little sugar water to give her a bit of a boost. I've always offered food and water as soon as a chick is getting around pretty well, they seem to appreciate it.
So happy to hear the little one is doing better!

 

[Birdland80]

Hello everyone, THe big chick really isn't so big now, in comparison to the other chicks anyway. I did give her sugar water and mash for a few days. It took some time, and regular intervals to get her to take anything. For a while there I thought she might be blind? Shes extremely vocal, but not like a normal "peep", its more a drawn out "peep". Like other birds do when they get fed my their mothers. A yearning quality.. I've also had to clean her vent regularly as its been getting clogged up with some white discharge that hardens, and that was from before she started to eat. Less so now, but I will keep an eye on it. She only yesterday started to drink by herself, and shes eating crumble but only when the other chicks do. It's like she has very little natural instinct. The other chicks took to eating and drinking very very quickly, but this little chick has not. She's very small and her feather colour and consisitency is also different. I will take a photo of her with another chick to show you guys. All in all though she is doing ok. She may just be our lucky-mini-miss thats needs a bit extra attention for the rest of her days, but thats ok. I had two compartments in the brooder for the staggered hatch, however all the little ones were tring to jump the divider wall. So I took it out to see what happens and they are all snug together. Very cute. Seven babies, from 24hours post hatch to 3weeks (theres only one 3wk). All learning from each other and a lot less stressed it seems now that they are all together in a flock. Thankyou all for your info and support, I will keep you updated with how Mini-miss is going.

 

[Birdland80]

Mini-miss is going well. I'm still cleaning her vent, but it just from the normal poop getting stuck in her little bum feathers. I am thinking of trimming the ones that hang over her vent? This would solve the problem completely. Has anyone done this? She really hasn't got much bigger. Even the younger chicks are already bigger than her.

 

[Shezadandy]

Mini-miss is going well. I'm still cleaning her vent, but it just from the normal poop getting stuck in her little bum feathers. I am thinking of trimming the ones that hang over her vent? This would solve the problem completely. Has anyone done this? She really hasn't got much bigger. Even the younger chicks are already bigger than her.

Awesome! Thanks for the update. If you can take just a little bit, then I would give it a try- the risk is exposing the vent- which is always moving about - can make her vulnerable to curious little beaks drawn by the movement if too much is taken off.