Baby chick repeatedly on back

[WillemdeJong]

Good morning! I hatched out some of my New Hampshire Red eggs. After hatching and placing them all in the brooder, I had a baby chick that I had to repeatedly rescue because it was lying on its back and unable to flip over. It would freak out, chirping like crazy. It has been breathing heavily since it was born. It’s eating, drinking and pooping, but seems to always be tired, falling asleep while standing. It’s alert when I make a loud sound. Not sure what to do and or think… any recommendations would be great.

 

[FunClucks]

Good morning! I hatched out some of my New Hampshire Red eggs. After hatching and placing them all in the brooder, I had a baby chick that I had to repeatedly rescue because it was lying on its back and unable to flip over. It would freak out, chirping like crazy. It has been breathing heavily since it was born. It’s eating, drinking and pooping, but seems to always be tired, falling asleep while standing. It’s alert when I make a loud sound. Not sure what to do and or think… any recommendations would be great.

How is it doing now? The symptoms you describe sound to me like it has heart issues. I would not be surprised to find that it has an abnormality of its heart. Unfortunately there's not much you can do if it has a congenital abnormality. You can give it Nutridrench and hope it perks up after a while, but it may eventually fail to thrive, and pass away. If it's constantly sleepy like that, it will also eventually be a target for bullying. Or you can cull it now before you get too attached, and so it doesn't suffer. Since nothing physically appears to be wrong with its legs, feet, or wings, sounds like the issues are on the inside, and those are usually not fixable. You can also do nothing, give it some raw egg yolk, and try to manage its issues, and hope for the best, and things will work out however they work out.

Sorry you're dealing with this. This is a hard one. Personally, I don't see a good outcome, and would cull this chick. But I know some folks may have a different approach. Whatever you do, don't let it pass along its genes to the next generation.