Baby chick severe illness-- less than a week old.

[Avalongirl83]

It was seriously bad the first 24 hours and I was convinced she was going to die. I am not sure still she will make it but I have more hope than before since she has shown some imrovement. Baby steps. :-/

 

[lgigleheart]

Bad news...I am sorry to say my chick didn't make it. She died less than a hour ago. Since I only noticed this morning she was ill and now she is dead, it was just over 12 hours since I first segregated and started treating her. I must have just not noticed she was not acting right due to all the other activity in the brooder, because it seems like such a short timeframe for her to die. I've cared for an injured hen (bitten by a dog) that I thought would die for sure and she pulled through after about 3 days, so I guess I was thinking the chick would probably make it too. I will be watching all the other chickens very closely for the first signs of symptoms, and just keeping my fingers crossed it was not a communicable disease that killed her, one that could have infected any of the other chicks before I segregated her.

 

[foreverlearning]

Bad news...I am sorry to say my chick didn't make it. She died less than a hour ago. Since I only noticed this morning she was ill and now she is dead, it was just over 12 hours since I first segregated and started treating her. I must have just not noticed she was not acting right due to all the other activity in the brooder, because it seems like such a short timeframe for her to die. I've cared for an injured hen (bitten by a dog) that I thought would die for sure and she pulled through after about 3 days, so I guess I was thinking the chick would probably make it too. I will be watching all the other chickens very closely for the first signs of symptoms, and just keeping my fingers crossed it was not a communicable disease that killed her, one that could have infected any of the other chicks before I segregated her.

I am sorry for your loss. Sometimes chicks can go fast because they just don't have the strength that the older ones do. I suggest that you add vitamins to the other brooders water to help them have a little more strength just in case something spread. It can't hurt them.

 

[Avalongirl83]

Great news!! My baby chick is doing so much better. She is now standing on her own, walking and drinking. She still walks in circles when she walks and keeps her head bent slightly. Sometimes she loses her balance and catches herself with her wing. Her rattling sound when she breathes has ceased completely and she is pooping like crazy. Her poops are pretty liquid but she did go almost 24 hours on a liquid diet so that is to be expected. She is making great strides. If she keeps going like this, I am hoping for a full improvement in 2-3 days and maybe a reintroduction to her sisters. She is significantly smaller than they are now (its amazing how quickly they grow in just a few days).

I am keeping her on the vitamin water and save a chick combos and have started reintroducing solid chick starter feed soggy with vitamin water. To those who are struggling with this now, keep your chin up. If you are vigilant in the treatment they can pull through. I swear this poor babe looked like she was a gonner 24 hours ago. Completely unable to walk or stand. Now, she is making good strides. To those that have lost their poor little chicks, I am truly sorry.

Based on the symptoms, I feel pretty confident saying wry neck (ducking head back, walking in circles, head cocked to one side "stargazing", unable to eat/drink, and no other chicks showing any symptoms. She was the smallest of the six, so I am thinking one of two things happened: either she was being prevented from eating/drinking by her bigger flock mates or she came to me Saturday with a problem already developing.

Good luck to anyone trying to heal their baby from this terrible thing.

 

[Avalongirl83]

Quote:
I am really sorry to hear this. You did all you could. The first symptom I noticed was loud, constant chirping. If you hear this, beware. Better luck with the others.

 

[Ddonn]

This exact thing is happening to us right now. Your photo is pretty identical. I am new to this, just brought home 6 red pullets yesterday from tractor supply co in Massachusetts. They were all fine, except one I believe had pasty butt, but I cleaned it immediately before putting it in our brooder. Can't tell if that's the ill one, though. We have them in a 55 gall aquarium with fine pine shavings lined with paper towels. They were all walking, running, eating, etc. together. I didn't notice until an hour ago (11 pm), too late to call the store. I did put her in a separate box under the lamp, with her own water, but she isn't moving.

 

[lgigleheart]

I am sorry to hear this! I get the feeling from what I have read that some are just weak from birth and have a hard time surviving the first week, it's just "bad" genetics sometimes. I wish you well with your flock. I am happy to say that the rest of the chicks I picked up from TCS are thriving!

 

[Avalongirl83]

I had a chance to speak to the farmer that ships the chicks to our Tractor Supply. His opinion was that the extremely cold weather at the time of shipping had caused the baby chick to become chilled and contribute to the problem. Maybe he is right but I have 5 babies with no issues and one sickie. Ultimately, our baby chick showed great improvement and even began walking on her own again. However, she quickly took a turn for the worse one night while I was at work and I couldn't nurse her back to health again. I know the vitamins were helping but since I couldn't be home full time to make sure she was getting the vitamins and water, she just wasn't strong enough to pull through. Her five sisters are doing great though and just spent their first night outside in the big girl coop. I guess you win some, you lose some. This one is a real hard one to watch though. :-/