Chick isn't looking very healthy :(

[ChickenGranny979]

Hello everyone, I have a chick which I don't think is doing well. It is about a week old- it has feathers growing on its wings- but it is not walking and cannot lift its head easily. It kind of attempts to walk for a bit (and when it walks its head kind of drags on the ground), but it doesn't get very far and when if stops, it collapses with its feet near its head and its head facedown, with wings spread out. Is there anything I can do?

 

[Farmgirl283420]

Hello everyone, I have a chick which I don't think is doing well. It is about a week old- it has feathers growing on its wings- but it is not walking and cannot lift its head easily. It kind of attempts to walk for a bit (and when it walks its head kind of drags on the ground), but it doesn't get very far and when if stops, it collapses with its feet near its head and its head facedown, with wings spread out. Is there anything I can do?

Sorry about your chick! @fluffycrow @azygous

 

[azygous]

It sounds like a failure-to-thrive (FTT) chick. Give it some warm sugar water right now. Then go to the pet store or feed store and buy Poultry Nutri-drench and give that to the chick. Make a sort of weak "tea" by adding some to water.

Just as a baby bird falling out of a nest, you may need to feed the chick by hand for a few days. Do that by placing drops of liquid on the right side of its beak. It will slurp it in. Once it can stand, dip the beak in the solution until it drinks on its own.

 

[WingsysRoost]

I'm sorry to hear that your chick isn't doing well. I second doing what azygous suggested.

I had a chicken who was seriously lethargic and not moving much (very ill due to a mite infestation that happened very quickly) that I was able to help.

I took a raw egg, mixed together thoroughly. I used Springwater Avian Health's Avian Health Shake (a feed for ill or high needs birds) and Vetafarm PolyAid Plus (which provides vital nutrition and long-lasting energy for stressed or critically ill birds), both of which I like to have on hand for exactly this situation, but you can use their chick starter turned into a powder as well. It just needs to be something to make the egg less goopy. I mixed this with water until it was the correct consistency to go through a syringe or eyedropper, and she was fed this at frequentl intervals throughout the day until she started to perk up. I hope this helps. Best of luck!