Baby Chick Off Balance

[Villv57114]

Recently, we’ve found a weaker chick among its family. I took it out of the cage and put it inside my house because the mom accidentally kept stepping on it. It’s around a week old and is eating and drinking normally, but is having trouble keeping balance. When it stands still or tries to drink or eat you can see it sway. When it lies down it kind of lies on its side and constantly needs help getting back on its feet. I’ve been giving vitamins, is there anything else I can do?

 

[Eggcessive]

I would try to get it eating some wet chick crumbles with a little egg yolk. Offer water and dip it’s beak often. Do your vitamins have electrolytes in them? Which one are you using. A chick chair or sling might be good to get it upright and in front of food and water. Here are some examples:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/versions-of-chick-chairs-please.1166308/

 

[Villv57114]

Thanks, right now I’m putting Nutri Drench with his water. I’m giving him the wet crumbles while supporting his body. We have electrolytes to give him. Should I?

 

[Eggcessive]

NutriDrench has electrolytes as well as vitamins and minerals. You can give it orally a couple of drops a day up to 1 ml.

 

[Villv57114]

One last thing, is it possible that it could have a disease? It has an eye infection I forgot to mention. But that’s about it.

 

[Eggcessive]

Did it get pecked in the eye, or do you suspect a respiratory infection. Do you have a picture of the eye. Is it sneezing or breathing hard? I would clean the eye with a washcloth or some saline eye wash. Then put a small dab of Terramycin eye ointment or plain Neosporin ointment in the eye twice a day.