Chick Appears Sick - Any ideas?

[jellyroll]

We've got about 20, 4-5 week old baby Bantam chicks.
Over the weekend, one in particular appeared to be sick (none of the other chicks show any sign of any issues). While everyone else was running around eating, this little guy would just sit there and start dozing off. When it breathes, it makes a slight chirp (not sure if it's considered wheezing or not). It will eat, it does drink, and I found it running out side to eat some bugs from time to time. I also caught it pooping and there aren't any issues there.

But, because I was reading about potential illnesses spreading, I've pulled it out of the coop and have it in the house in a warm room.

Temps are in the mid 70's at night and anywhere from mid 80's to high 90's during the day. We keep a heat lamp on in the coop at night, but they rarely sleep under it.

I've attached a video of it.

Jellyroll

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

Sorry you face this.

Anything that chick has... your others are already exposed. I might not separate unless he is being trampled or picked on. Although I will still provide quarantine sometimes to stop any actively shedding virus type stuff from adding yet MORE to their exposure. Cute little Cochin boy! Your Turken beauties are as well.

That seems like sneezing and respiratory distress (labored breathing)...

Where did these chicks come from? Do you have other chickens? Any new bedding? Were they recently moved to their outdoor location? What are you feeding, including treats and supplements? Any snot on his nostrils or foreign objects or bubbles in his eyes?

I would cut the heat lamp all together at your stated age and overnight low's.

Hope he recovers quickly!

 

[WVduckchick]

Pretty mottled bantam cochin boy. So sorry he doesn’t look well.

 

[jellyroll]

They all came from TSC.......I warned my wife........
This is our first attempt at our first flock, we're trying to take the plunge.

We had them inside for the first 2.5 weeks and they've been in the outside coop since then (for about a 1.5 weeks). My wife did a bedding change (large pine shavings) on Saturday, but we let them out in the run during the change.

Feed has been Purina Starter Medicated and we give them the meal worms for snacks. Since Saturday, though, they are cleaning up the bugs in the run. Water has electrolytes (Gatorade) added and we clean it out daily and have just introduced the water nipples that they are using last week.

The only thing that could have impacted this guy is we have had some heavy rain since Thursday, so the evenings have been very humid.

I figured that if he has something, then it's already with the remaining birds. But, I didn't know what else to do. And now, if it is a respiratory issue, I have no clue what to do either. There's a ton of stuff out there. I plan on visiting my feed store this afternoon as the owner speaks chicken........but, I wanted to get some input from the folks on this forum. Y'all have had some great info on here.

 

[jellyroll]

And no snot or anything in the eyes. I tried inspecting him for any odd signs of "something" and there wasn't anything that stood out.

 

[jellyroll]

Well, I got home today expecting to find a dead chick. Nothing of the sort. For some strange reason he appears to be better.
I stopped by the feed store before getting home and picked up some MedRX and also a powder (Durastat) that has oregano in it.
Still have the chick separated but doused some MedRX on him and put some in his water along with the Durastat.
I also went out to the coop and they’re all fine and dandy. Added Durastat to their water as well.

Although better, he’s still sneezing a bit and has a bit of labored breathing. But he’s not breathing with his mouth open and not “chirping” while breathing. And he’s got a great appetite. I replaced his food bowl and he jumped right in forging himself and scratching around.

My wife has a friend who suggested Fireball tonic....I was at first thinking maybe this was a drink for me......nope. Something with apple cider vinegar and crushed garlic. I’ll Google it and find out the details........but might make my own tonic while researching.

I’ll keep everyone posted on developments in case someone else has this issue......and if someone knows my problem, please let me know.

 

[WVduckchick]

Glad to hear he seems better!!

I raise bantam cochins and I don’t want to infer that you not watch them closely, but I find a lot of mine seem a little off during that grow out stage. I’ve had some that I was sure were going to die, and they just snap out of it. I don’t know if it’s a breed thing or what, or changes in weather, or just flock dynamics.

Certainly keep an eye on him, but hopefully it all works itself out.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would skip the ACV and think about starting some probiotics in the water or food. Coccidiosis could possibly be making the chick weaker or just sitting around. Corid is pretty harmless to use in the water on all the chicks at this time, just in case coccidiosis might be a problem. Dosage is 2 tsp of the liquid Corid in a gallon of water for 5-7 days. Then restart the probiotics. Probios and Gro2Max are ones that go in the water easily. Some are found on Amazon prime and online. There are other brands in packets usually in the dog medicine section of TSC or online. There have been studies done on using probiotics on weaker chicks in large commercial flocks who tend to put on more weight after using them.

 

[jellyroll]

He's back in the coop.
He was feeling so great that he was literally jumping off of the walls in the kennel. He was chirping so loud, that I couldn't deal with it any longer so I put him back in the coop with his buddies.
So far so good. He's busy scratching and eating bugs and even sparred with another young rooster (I didn't think they did that until later on).
I have no idea how he got better. I'll keep an eye on him and make sure he stays well.

Thanks everyone!


Jellyroll

 

[Eggcessive]

Glad he was happy to be back with the others. Good luck.