Baby chick acting strange

[Carl L Callen]

One chick chirps all the time and tries to crawl under the other chicks all the time

 

[Kiki]

Welcome to BYC
Is it eating and drinking?
Are they in a brooder with heat?
How old is it?

 

[Carl L Callen]

It is eating and drinking. The chick is three weeks old.I do have a broader box with a heat lamp the temp is around 90 degrees. I lost three other chicks. I am mixing the Vitapac in there water. I seems as though it spits up water a lot .

 

[aart]

Is she pooping ok?
What are you feeding?
What is Vitapac, can you post a link to product specs?

Is there a cooler part of the brooder?
They need a heated area to warm up but also need a cooler part.
At 3 weeks they should not need need 90F...
...they should be almost weaned off the heat by that age-unless it is still very cold where you live.


Here's my notes on chick heat, hope something in there might help:

They need to be pretty warm(~85-90F on the brooder floor right under the lamp and 10-20 degrees cooler at the other end of brooder) for the first day or two, especially if they have been shipped, until they get to eating, drinking and moving around well. But after that it's best to keep them as cool as possible for optimal feather growth and quicker acclimation to outside temps. A lot of chick illnesses are attributed to too warm of a brooder. I do think it's a good idea to use a thermometer on the floor of the brooder to check the temps, especially when new at brooding, later I still use it but more out of curiosity than need.


The best indicator of heat levels is to watch their behavior:

If they are huddled/piled up right under the lamp and cheeping very loudly, they are too cold.

If they are spread out on the absolute edges of the brooder as far from the lamp as possible, panting and/or cheeping very loudly, they are too hot.

If they sleep around the edge of the lamp calmly just next to each other and spend time running all around the brooder they are juuuust right!


The lamp is best at one end of the brooder with food/water at the other cooler end of the brooder, so they can get away from the heat or be under it as needed. Wattage of 'heat' bulb depends on size of brooder and ambient temperature of room brooder is in. Regular incandescent bulbs can be used, you might not need a 'heat bulb'. You can get red colored incandescent bulbs at a reptile supply source. A dimmer extension cord is an excellent way to adjust the output of the bulb to change the heat without changing the height of the lamp.



Or you could go with a heat plate, commercially made or DIY: http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/pseudo-brooder-heater-plate

 

[Carl L Callen]

There is a lot of room in the brisket box so they can get away from the heat. The Vitapac is vitamins and electrolytes that mixes into there water.it's great for starting chicks and mature hens it gives them an extra boost.the littlest chick acts like a small bird that still needs its mother. It lowers its wings and tries to crawl under the other chicks.

 

[Kiki]

it's poop....what does it's poop look like?
Can you post a pic of your brisket box?