baby chick problem

[omelette77]

We have some 4 day old BO's. One had pasty butt yesterday which was cleaned up, that went well. This morning the same bird (we think) is very lethargic and seems to have labored breathing. We tried to get her to drink and eat. She might have taken a couple of sips, but no food. She just wants to sit. She doesn't move out of the way when the other chicks walk on her. Her eyes and beak are clear. No further problems with the butt. What can we try?

 

[omelette77]

We tried giving it some honey/water, she didn't seem to take it. She just lays down, pretty much sprawled, her beak opening and closing, eyes closed.

Any thoughts?

 

[klmclain1]

Be careful with honey - someone can correct me here if it doesn't apply to chickens - but I know with humans, we don't give honey to children until they're over 2 because of the possibility of botulism. If or how this applies to chickens - I don't know.

You COULD try water with some electrolytes and polyvisol (infant drops) vitamins in it if you can get more liquids down. However, it's not uncommon to lose some chicks in their first week of life. They just fail to thrive. If you want to try to keep the others from trampling her, you could make a little "paper towel cup" by folding a paper towel over maybe five or six times then forming it into a little circle and taping it. Set her in it to hold her up and protect her.

Keeping my fingers crossed!

 

[gwendalynn28]

I read on here earlier that you can cut down a styrofoam cup and put the chick in that. I don't know much about getting the chick to eat though. I did have a pasty butt chick last year that I had to keep shaving it bottom because it was much easier to keep clean. You might wanna check the chicks beak alignment too. If it has a crooked beak, this can cause problems with eating too. The beak can be trimmed too but you have to be very careful not to draw any blood! Hopefully this chick will come around and start thriving. Maybe you could separate it with just one other chick for company to give it better odds at getting at the food and water without much competition or harassment from other chicks.

 

[Chickeemomma63]

Anytime we have had problems with our chicks or chickens, we use Purina Dog Chow. Heat water to scalding hot, about a cup. Then, add about a 1/4 cup of Dog Chow and let it sit until the chow is soft and cool. Then, allow the chick to eat. If it won't, use a dropper to feed it a small amount about every two hours. It shouldn't take long for the chick to begin eating on its own. Praying helps, too.

 

[omelette77]

Update- She is gone. It looked like, at one point, that she might be coming back around, but no luck.

Thank you for the suggestions though.

 

[Maev]

I'm sorry.

I lost one of my week old chicks on Thursday. She was eating and drinking, but was the smallest of the batch and didn't seem to be growing. I took her out of the brooder to give her extra food and water at noon and then went back to check on her later and she was dead. So sad. Unfortunately I have another chick that seems to be having the same problem. I'm afraid I'm going to loose her too. And they are my Welsummers!

Why is it always the chicks you've been looking forward to the most?

 

[Chickeemomma63]

I'm so sorry. It always makes me sad to lose any of my babies. Wish I knew what to say to make you feel better, but I guess that's a part of loving these little ones. Again, I'm sorry, and I sure hope the other one makes it.

 

[galanie]

Those things just happen. So sorry you lost it though.

 

[Vikingmom70]

We are exp. the same thing right now with one of our new chicks. I am so sorry your baby didn't make it. It looks as though our is not going to either. Out of 16 chickens we lost two. It is harder than I thought it would be. I love my chickens <3