Coughing Silkie Chick... about 3 weeks old

[KellyGwen]

Tonight when I went to put my chicks to bed I heard a weird noise coming from the creep feeder/brooder. I peeked in and saw my little 3 week old splash silkie breathing weird and making this odd coughing noise... She was looking around and saw me, was alert... but the coughing/whistling concerns me....

What can I do to help her?? Should I separate her from the rest? During the day she and a few of the very small babies like to stay inside the brooder box while the bigger chicks sneak underneath and explore the coop and run. So she isn't disturbed much during the day...

I bought her from a breeder where most of my other chicks are from a hatchery and have had vaccinations against Mareks... I gave all of my chicks electrolytes for their first 3 weeks and recently stopped them...

What can I do? Electrolytes? Antibiotics? Separation from the others? (I'm afraid that might stress her out...)

Thanks!!!!!

 

[tiki244]

If you vaccinate for mareks, all the chicks should be vaccinated. But that may not have much or anything to do with the situation.

Is she crowing? That is a possibility.

In dont really know, maybe just watch her and see how she progresss along.

 

[sammi]

could she have something in her throat?
what bedding are you using?
do a check of her crop..feel for any lump..
what is she eating?
what do the droppings look like? (color and consistency)

wondering why you gave electrolytes?
or did you mean vitamins?

is she eating and drinking?

it's possible she might need an antibiotic..
but check her throat and crop first..
maybe give a little dab of plain yogurt and see if it clears her throat...

 

[KellyGwen]

I was giving the electrolytes for the first 3 weeks because Storey's recommends it to help the chicks stay healthy and to overcome the stress of hatching, shipping, growing, etc. I figured it wouldn't hurt

I checked on "her" this morning and she's fine... I think that might have been CROWING! At 3 WEEKS????? AHHH!! Hahaa!!

 

[silkieluver_07]

we had to put one of my silkie chicks down because she had pneumonia/upper respitory problems. treat them with aureomycin >sp?. that clears it up, we just didnt get to her in time.