Chick Dying, Gasping for Breath

[Wishapup]

Don't think there's anything I can do but I'd love to know what this is.

Lavender Orpington is 24-48 hours old. It is weak and lethargic, lying flat with eyes closed and can barely lift its head.

When beak is dipped it can barely muster the energy to swallow. It is breathing heavily/gasping; with each breath its beak opens.

I can't see anything stuck in its beak. Vent is clear, poop is runny/white. Crop feels empty?? Or at least its not impacted.

Hatched almost 40 chicks in the incubator and all were doing well in the brooder yesterday. Fat, healthy, active, eating/drinking, including this little guy. This chick was not weak or small, nor was it one of the last to hatch. Hardly could be classified as "failure to thrive" as all the Lavenders were very vigorous and active yesterday.

Bedding is flax. I've used it successfully for several years with many, many chicks.

Other chicks are all doing great. Temp is fine. Eating medicated chick starter. I always add chick stress aid electrolytes to my water so that's what they've all been drinking. I almost never have any deaths.

I tried dipping its beak in the electrolyte water and warm sugar water several times. It's back in the incubator right now because the others were stepping on it.

Ideas??

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry about your chick, but you are doing everything I would do--feed electrolyte water and keep it warm. Use a dropper or small syringe without a needle and just try feeding it a drop at a time while holding it to keep it warm near the heat lamp. I would get some SaveAChick vitamins with electrolytes for the water or Poultry Nutri-drench and give 1/2 ml per day by mouth. There can be so many problems during incubation with humidity or temperatures that can cause problems, and bacterial infection also can be a possibility. Good luck.

 

[Wishapup]

Sorry about your chick, but you are doing everything I would do--feed electrolyte water and keep it warm. Use a dropper or small syringe without a needle and just try feeding it a drop at a time while holding it to keep it warm near the heat lamp. I would get some SaveAChick vitamins with electrolytes for the water or Poultry Nutri-drench and give 1/2 ml per day by mouth. There can be so many problems during incubation with humidity or temperatures that can cause problems, and bacterial infection also can be a possibility. Good luck.

Thank you Eggcessive!

The vitamin stuff I have is quite similar to Sav-A-Chick, I think. I always use it for poultry in distress and with all chicks for the first couple weeks.

Isn't it kind of strange that this chick was doing so well yesterday? Would a bacterial infection affect just one chick out of thirty-seven?

It's too weak to eat. Is sugar water okay? Or maybe raw egg? Or should I just keep it hydrated with vitamins/electrolytes?

 

[Wishapup]

Little Orpington seems to be a fighter. It is struggling to keep its head up now. Kind of an unnecessary waste of energy (rest is good...), but I'm glad it has the strength to try. An hour ago it was as floppy and flat as a pancake unless I held its head up.

I dissolved sugar, electrolytes/vitamins, and a few crumbles into warm water and am giving a little to him/her periodically.

A couple hours ago we were giving the chick water and 5 min later it came back up as foamy liquid. Not sure why.

Maybe it will keep some of this solution down.

The incubator is a bit hotter than the brooder so I'm keeping it there for now. Unfortunately I haven't cleaned it out yet. I hope the smell doesn't harm the chick!

 

[Wishapup]

Still hanging on but doing very poorly. It's been looking like it's about to die all day. It's lying flat and struggling to breathe.

Could it be aspergillosis? I've never had experience with that. Should I be worrying about my other chicks? Could it have come from purchased hatching eggs? They were pretty clean...and my incubator was disinfected

 

[Wishapup]

Saw something about treating aspergillosis with Nystatin, which we actually have. And garlic. Not sure whether to try those or how much to give

 

[Wishapup]

Just as an update: it passed away.

 

[Eggcessive]

I doubt that it was aspergillosis, but probably just some internal problem that wouldn't allow the chick to live. It could have had a heart problem. You tried very hard to save the chick. Sorry for your loss.