Baby chick impacted crops?

[Flysky1347]

Hi all thank you for your advice in advance. I've had these baby chicks for a week now. There is 5 in total. One is week and lathargic since yesterday. She could barely stand yesterday. After some scrambled eggs and chick starter made into a mash in an effort to get her a bit stronger everyone else is now got swollen crops that almost make them look lop sided. I massaged them last night and gave them all some water they seemed to go down a bit in swelling. Though my little weak one, though slightly better is still not doing the greatest. I wanted to get her to eat again. Should i be worried i am over feeding them? And i was wondering if I could possibly dose the weak one with antibiotics since she did have a weird scab under her wing.
Liz

 

[azygous]

Try warm sugar water. Also, if you can get Poultry Nutri-drench, dose her an undiluted drop per day for the next week.

When I have a weak chick I make a "weak tea" with a tiny bit of Nutri-drench and mix a little sugar into it. I then give the chick a couple drops of this every hour or so. Be sure it's tepid and not cold.

Don't be too concerned about the overly full crops on baby chicks. They appear to be so full they'll fall over on their little faces, but as long as they are behaving normally, they are fine.

Watch the weak chick to be sure it's pooping normally and not straining to produce a scant, dry turd. If you see that, and the chick peeps loudly as it strains to poop, it may be constipated. A half teaspoon of oil is the treatment.

 

[Flysky1347]

I have been syringing drops of nutri drench into its beak every few hours and electrolyte water rotated with sugar water. It seems to have become a little stronger than yesterday but the other chicks nearly run it over. I will try the straight concentrated dose of the nutri drench.
Thank you for your help!

 

[CityslickerHomestead]

I JUST had this same problem with my baby chicks. They had MASSIVE crops but that’s because I used a red heat bulb so they were under 24 hours of light. Which meant they ate their chick feed 24 hours a day.

When I switched to a heat plate and a ceramic reptile bulb (no light) they would sleep at night and when I’d check their crops first thing in the morning, they’d be “empty” or mostly empty.

They are all now 5-6 weeks old and doing just fine. My three smaller polish chicks still seem to have large crops during the day, while my much larger Welsummer, Wyandotte, Easter Egger, and Rhode Island Red all have small and soft crops all day long.

 

[Flysky1347]

At what age did you change to the heat plate and reptile bulb? Mine have been under the red heat lamp too.

 

[CityslickerHomestead]

I changed to that heat system at about week old (when they arrived from amazon!) I bought the Comfort Chick heat plate for its ease of adjusting the height and a 100w black ceramic reptile bulb.

I did have a very weak batch of polish chicks and one did die on the first night I used the heat plate so I freaked out and went back to the red bulb for a few days after that. However baby chicks are prone to die and the other polish that was its sibling is now the smallest and least feathered of all my chickens. BYC forums call it “failure to thrive” so it sounds like the problem was NOT the heat plate.

The biggest issue I had with the heat plate was height adjustment because the chicks are supposed to be able to slightly touch their backs to the underside of the heat plate. However I had multiple breeds of varying sizes and if I put it low enough for my tiny polish, my large Wyandotte couldn’t fit under. If I put it high enough for my large Wyandotte, my polish could not reach the heat plate. You see the issue? However the heat plate has four legs that can be adjusted for height, so I slanted the plate and put two legs lower than the other so all could fit under there. After a couple weeks I removed it and only used the ceramic bulb. Now at their current age of 5-6 weeks I don’t use any heat because they were too warm and weren’t feathering out. My ambient room temperature is ~70F and they all are fine. My tiniest “failure to thrive” polish still shivers a bit but she huddles with the big girls to stay warm.

 

[Aunt Angus]

If you are interested, search up Mama Heating Pad on BYC. It's easier to use, IMO, and I was able to make one with materials I already had. I have had no pasty butt, no fussing over temp regulation, no 24/7 light, no adjusting height. I put my chicks outside with it last year (this year, my chicks are being raised by adoptive broodies) and had much less fear of fire.

 

[coach723]

Do your chicks have access to chick grit? If they are on crumbles only then they don't need grit, if they are eating anything else, then they need access to grit to be able to digest it. Under 8 weeks you need chick grit, which is smaller sized specifically for chicks. If you haven't already, put a separate dish of grit out for them, they will take what they need.
https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/chicken-grit-and-oyster-shell/
I always use only a heat plate, never a bulb. Setting it up as described above, with one side lower, allows for all the chicks to get as close as they need, they can snuggle right up touching it, or be farther if they want. (I use a Brinsea EcoGlow 50) I will often see the older ones laying under just the edges of it. While older ones don't 'need' the heat plate, if you have one that is still struggling and shivering, I would be inclined to leave it until that bird is doing well.

 

[Flysky1347]

Thank you all . I have researched the other heat pads systems. I purchased a infared lamp and will switch them in a week for the weaker one to eat at night.