chick constantly opening and closing beak

[Lydia]

My daughter noticed that her 6 day old silver laced cochin chick is opening and closing her mouth almost constantly for the past couple of hours. She is drinking and did poop a little while ago but hasn't been seen eating. She is chirping but is sitting in the corner of the brooder. She has been fine up to this point. What is going on with her and what can be done to help her so she'll stop? I thought that maybe she is over-heated..... Any help would be great!

 

[brooster]

is her tongue in her mouth or did she swallow it?

 

[Lydia]

Her tongue is where it should be but in holding her she feels VERY skinny. Should I make some of her food into a mash and feed her with a syringe?

 

[brooster]

Are there vitamins in the water?

 

[Lydia]

No, there aren't. I was going to go and get some tomorrow. Please let me know what I can do so this chick doesn't get any worse.

 

[brooster]

I get chicks that do that, and they seem to get better, maybe give a little baby grit, and keep it warm

 

[Pine Grove]

Quote:
Is it physically possible for a chicken to swallow its tongue?

 

[Guitartists]

Can she get away from the heat source? She could be panting from the heat. Does she have a runny nose or sneezing?

 

[Sparrow]

I had a little Black Japanese doing that right after he came in the mail. For about 2 days his poop was reeeeally sticky, didn't want to eat or drink on his ow n, and he opened his mouth every time he needed to breathe in. He became so lethargic he was nearly unresponsive and I thought I was going to lose him.

I put vitamins in his water, encouraged him to eat chick starter made into a wet mash from my hand, made him drink every couple hours, and I started giving him plain yogurt. Over the past 2 days, he is appearing to improve! He is up now eating and drinking, scratching around, slamming other chicks occasionally, and he is not doing the wierd breathing anymore. His poops appear normal, too. I don't know what his problem was, but he seems to be getting better. Maybe doing the same things for your chick will help too?

 

[Lydia]

She doesn't have a runny nose and isn't sneezing. She has no meat on her little body though. Once taken out of the heat source she was still opening and closing her beak. I liquified some of her food and gave it to her and that seemed to help. I also ran to the pharmacy and got some PediaLyte and some Poly-Vi-Sol. I've given her some of it already and put some vitamins in all the chicks' water. She just went to the bathroom and it was nothing but water. She has some chick grit and my daughter is holding her in her hands wrapped up. This is my 13 year old daughter's chick and I don't want anything to happen to her. All our other chicks seem fine and aren't opening and closing their beaks.
This is my first sickness issue with a chick so I'm feeling a little panicky.