Crying chick?

[candemaye]

I have new bantams, 5-6 days old. There are five of them. Four are doing well, one though is....off. It chirps loudly all the time. I've adjusted heat, it has food and water, company, everything to make a chick happy. Aside from the crying, it also has constant pasty butt and runny poop. I'm washing it several times a day and still it just poops all over itself. It also hardly seems to sleep, it just stands there half asleep and crying. Tonight I've snuggled it up in a fleece blanket with me and it's stopped crying mostly but now while it's sleeping it keeps shaking its head. Almost a twitch. When it wakes up it's just basically shrieking until I manage to get it to sleep again.


Any ideas? Anything I can do??

 

[Chicken Girl1]

Does it act lethargic or sick? Some chicks are natural chatty chicks and won't be quiet and its not unusual to have a chick fall a sleep for a little bit then spas out and go back to sleep.

 

[chickens really]

It might have a bacterial infection and might need a antibiotic in its water....?
Put a little Vaseline on its butt to help it.....

Best of luck.....


Cheers!

 

[candemaye]

It doesn't act sick, but it doesn't act right if that makes sense. Last night I almost lost her, she started throwing up, and I noticed her crop felt like a balloon and she was flopping around. I got her to come around though and she's back to crying constantly.


I have done Vaseline, not sure what meds I would use though?

 

[candemaye]

And I did consider sour crop but at under a week old I thought she would be much to young for that to have developed yet. But maybe not?

 

[snow5164]

Have you tried feeding her a cooked egg ? My pasty butt baby loved that...

I'm in Canada so our brands might be different, I added neo-clor to water then mixed the medicated water into the feed, they all get it but that's ok!!

Do you have a dropper? Maybe you could put a drop beside her beak so she swallows the meds, I also add pedia vitamins (drug store)

You'll do fine some are high needs chicks ,
Just like kids

 

[aart]

That chick is obviously in distress, pasty butt, runny poop, sloshy crop, 'throwing up'.
Could be it's digestive system is malformed and/or not functioning.
Did this just start in the last day or has it been since day one?
Any chance it ate something (bedding, 'treats') that clogged it's crop?
Are it's eyes open?
Does it sit with it's hatchemates at all under the heat?

 

[candemaye]

It's been like this since I brought it home. It and another were being trampled in a bantam bin. I took a chance and saved them. Lost the one the same night I got it. This one has just been a wreck since then. It is staying under the heat-though it won't *ever* lay down, just "sleeps" standing up. I'm not convinced it's eaten anything. I've seen it playing at the food bowl but since I noticed the weird crop, I've yet to notice it full of food. Eyes are wide open, it runs about fine, just crying the whole time. It's crop is clearly swollen again, as if it's just refilling with fluid (it had gone down last night after it was sick everywhere). It is tiny- about half the size of the other bantams I saw in that bin so it has crossed my mind that something is just wrong with it internally

I tried offering some egg tonight and they all ran away in terror so I guess they're just not ready for that yet.

 

[aart]

It's been like this since I brought it home. It and another were being trampled in a bantam bin. I took a chance and saved them. Lost the one the same night I got it. This one has just been a wreck since then. It is staying under the heat-though it won't *ever* lay down, just "sleeps" standing up. I'm not convinced it's eaten anything. I've seen it playing at the food bowl but since I noticed the weird crop, I've yet to notice it full of food. Eyes are wide open, it runs about fine, just crying the whole time. It's crop is clearly swollen again, as if it's just refilling with fluid (it had gone down last night after it was sick everywhere). It is tiny- about half the size of the other bantams I saw in that bin so it has crossed my mind that something is just wrong with it internally

I tried offering some egg tonight and they all ran away in terror so I guess they're just not ready for that yet.

That's also what I would surmise.
Personally, I would euthanize a chick that cannot eat/drink/poop/rest normally, and is in obvious distress, after 5-6 days.

 

[candemaye]

Right. I was going to give it the weekend. However, it's maybe making progress? I just went to check it again and it was actually laying down asleep and had a normal feeling-full crop. It did need a butt cleaning again which just got it all riled up again