Chicks won't stand, sad pictures inside!! PLEASE help :(

[wyo-helpmeet]

OK, these are meat chickens. We (a friend & I) ordered 222 from Welp, they shipped 241 Wed & she picked them up from the PO last night around 11pm. 6 DOA, 1 died overnight & then there's these special needs little guys. The fluffy one is OK, just not active. The 2 that look wet are not standing up. They chirp & look around, I've force fed them vit/elec water & after a few drops each fought vigorously. Is it spraddle leg? They do seem tired, but not necessarily lethargic, they just won't/can't stand up. The one in the middle can get up, but will fall over unless he's leaning against the sides of the dish pan. I know they're only meat chickens, but this is breaking my heart, they're just babies right now. She brought me half the batch this morning & asked if I wanted to take care of these ones, sine I am home more, I have more time to deal with them (feeding every couple hours, etc).

Their little feet don't stay curled. I know it looks it in the first pic, but I think he (middle one) was trying to get up.

Is this where I give them cooked yolk, yoghurt, what? I'm already doing the water & she was giving them sugar water overnight.

 

[Burbs]

Wow, actually that is only a loss of 4%. That is pretty outstanding for Cornish.

I have gone down this path several times. Sick meaty, move it to the house, special food, meds in the water and so on. None of them ever made it. Any more if I find one that fails to thrive, I cull it. All I did when trying to care for them was prolonged their misery.

They seem to be a lot more fragile than normal chickens in the first few days. Hardly ever lost a bird after day 4.

 

[robin416]

Try a little sugar in the V&E. Unfortunately this breed is not known for its hardiness, add in the trauma of shipping and there's likely little that can be done.

The sugar will give a bit of energy.

 

[wyo-helpmeet]

Quote:
We were REALLY impressed with the loss rate as well. Thank you for your input. I'll be talking to her here in an hour or 2 & ask her what she wants to do.

Question, how do you cull a chick? I got 21 for layers & all of them lived with zero issues. Baking soda & vinegar in a jar then put them in it? *shudder* (It's really the baby thing

I can give or take killing animals for food)

 

[Burbs]

Quote:
We were REALLY impressed with the loss rate as well. Thank you for your input. I'll be talking to her here in an hour or 2 & ask her what she wants to do.

Question, how do you cull a chick? I got 21 for layers & all of them lived with zero issues. Baking soda & vinegar in a jar then put them in it? *shudder* (It's really the baby thing

I can give or take killing animals for food)

I don't like it either.

The first time I used a pellet gun to the head, affective but gross(not going to go into details).

This batch I had to cull one and I used a shot shell for the .22. That is the way I'll be doing it from now on. No mess, very quick and everything is still in tact.

 

[farmerKEN]

I had my heat lamp too close once and they flattened out like pancakes. maybe theyre too hot.

 

[wyo-helpmeet]

Quote:
Nope, they LOOK pathetic. It's not the heat lamp. Here are some of the rest of the little buggers (I have 2 boxes like this, LOL):

 

[JennsPeeps]

Poor little guys. I'm betting they got trampled during the shipment and were injured somehow. Keep giving them attention and see if they get better in a couple of days. If not, it would be best to cull.

 

[wyo-helpmeet]

Quote:
She said she was thinking they got smooshed. They fit 241 birds into 3 boxes

The 4 in one box that were DOA were badly flattened.

 

[wyo-helpmeet]

The fluffy guy is gone

The other 2 are up & walking around now, drinking on their own, eating, etc. YAY!!!