Can someone help a newbie out???

[lesliekoifman]

Hi all,

I have six chicks ranging from 6 weeks to 9 weeks old. I have already treated for coccidiosis as one of my new hens came into the fold with it. Everyone improved, except one. She is about six-seven weeks old and looks still to be one week old at best. She just doesn't seem like she has it altogether. She eats lots of pine shavings even if I bring out treats. She is assuredly not thriving. I do not see any more blood in stool from anyone. Everyone else looks strong and healthy. She seems well liked by the others. She never gets pushed out of the way. She'll stand on the bowl, but act confused once she's in the middle of food. I have moved the chicks into the coop and it's now 58 degrees at night. I thought this would either make it or break it for her, but she keeps hanging on. I've unfortunately vowed to family that when I took on this project I would not being taking the chickens to the vet. They want 100$ to put her down at my local vet. Really??? So.......I was thinking about sequestering her back in the shed where it's warm, but when I tried that before she really seemed to melt down not being with her flock mates. Is it cruel to keep her there isolated for however long it takes? Should I redo her treatment for coccidiosis? I read somewhere that deworming a chick that young is dangerous and I don't see obvious worms. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm at a loss and don't really have any contacts I could just sit on the phone and brainstorm with. I would put her down if that's the right thing, but she does keep hanging on. I'd hate to do anything prematurely. All her flock mates are 4x her size now. Help?

 

[birdwrangler057]

I have never had any problems like this before, but my friend has and put deotomatious earth in their feed. Of course, you are suposed to use the deworming process which kind of controverses your problem. You can buy DE at your local tractor supplie or general feed store it usually ranges around $15. I also think it would be good to try isolating her, if it doesn't work I'm not sure what to do. 100 dollars is very pricey to put down a chick the size of an egg plant, ir cost that same price to put down my full grown labrador

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome! It's very sad, but every chick won't live every time. 'Failure to thrive' can have many causes, most of them not manageable without the diagnosis you won't have before death. I'd keep her with her friends, as long as she's not being harassed, and try to keep her eating. You could try a supplement like Nutridrench and hand feeding. Mary

 

[azygous]

Do what Mary says. Chicks, even sick and injured ones, won't make a lick of headway isolated. If this chick is hesitant to eat in a group, she surely won't alone.

If she hasn't grown in all this time, she is most likely a victim of FTT (Failure to Thrive) syndrome. Some chicks survive and are small, never achieving full size. She may or may not lay when mature. They usually have other health issues, and are at a disadvantage when free-ranging, more vulnerable to predators.

I had a FTT chick, and managed to pull it back from the brink of death with crumbled tofu sprinkled with Poultry Nutri-drench. I fed this chick with the rest of the chicks, and they inspired it to compete and grab its share. It was heartening to watch.

However, this chick later became predator bait being so small. It disappeared at around six months of age.

I had a chick two summers ago that was sick from day one, didn't grow one bit, became very sick, and I had to euthanize it. PM me and I will tell you how to do it in an easy, humane, non-violent manner if it comes down to that with your chick.

 

[birdwrangler057]

I say listen to Mary as well

 

[lesliekoifman]

Thank you everyone for your kind suggestions. I feel better just having others' opinions. Strange, that I've felt so isolated raising these little girls. I had one little girl break her neck (she got sat on by a slightly larger bird) after I left the lights off for the first time. I had a small fire in the shed when my heat lamp dropped on the pine shavings. I was right there when it happened or I would have lost everything. Oh my goodness, who knew what a learning curve it would be. Truly. No one said it would be quite like this )).

I feel so much better knowing at least they are altogether in their coop. She ate some more this morning -- she seems so determined -- even though she's so tiny. The kids named her Tinkerbell.

I'm grateful for the suggestions, thoughts and empathy. So appreciated.

Leslie