Day 5- Golden Laced Polish struggling to thrive

[smac324]

I'm a newbie. It's day 5 and my chicks are growing well... except for one, my golden laced polish. Yesterday morning, it became clearly noticeable that she, Mable, was not as active as the other chicks. She became clumsy, was peeping continuously, and stopped wanting anything to eat or drink. I quickly went into action, check the temperature (90 degrees), and began to wonder and worry. I love the fact that before I got my chicks, I spent hours upon hours reading many different posts here at BYC and I recalled a few things to do. My laptop has been with me in the garage with my chicks while I check the www to make sure I'm doing things as best I can and keep an eye on those cute little peepers. I have melted for hours on end. I live in the South and it is hot in my garage. I only have to turn on the heat bulb at night because we are having 95 degree temperatures this week.

Checked her hind-end and there was a bit of dried poo but nothing that stopped her up. I quickly washed and dried her as she continued her peeping. I added a small amount of olive oil which may not have been the best thing to do because the other chicks later decided that her feathers needed preening and were tasty. I separated her for the rest of the day and she peeped all the more. She really wanted to be with her girlfriends who were just on the other side of the cardboard box. It seems that when I increase the temperature to 95 everyone is too warm, except for Mabel. 90 degrees is perfect for all but one, hmmm. She will not get to the warm side without her friends. Hopefully this will work it's way out as time goes by. Any tips for this problem would be greatly appreciated as I feel that her peeping is from being chilled.

I gave Mabel some Karo syrup and sent my husband on a wild goose chase to find Poly-Vi-Sol, our Wal Mart only had it with iron and I know that's a no-no. Walgreens came through for us and I gave my girl her vitamins last night. What a long wait for those to work.

This morning she was more active and has began to eat on her own. The others are not messing with her feathers any longer. I was so happy! This afternoon, things are not a great as earlier this morning, but she is still better than yesterday. I continue to give her vitamin water with a dropper because she doesn't seem as interested in drinking or hanging with the others unless they are ready for a nap. Her eyes are more sleepy looking this afternoon. Here is today's photo of my chicks. Notice how Mabel is on her own semi-leaning next to a 1x2 that I am using for a perch. How long does it take for a chick to fully recover from stress?

 

[leadwolf1]

From the pic, that little chick looks very unhappy and sick. I am hoping someone else will jump on here and give you some great advice. Is she sneezing? Is there any nasal discharge? Has she been eating? What do her little poops look like?

With her little wings like that she looks just like my golden laced polish did. I tried everything to save him/her...nothing helped. He died 3 days later. I don't want to upset you, just trying to think outloud and hoping something comes to me.

Your little peep really looks like it could be cocci but I think it is too young for that....if not, you need to get Corid and start dosing immediately. It can be found at tractor supply.

Good luck...hopefully my post will give yours the boost that it needs...

 

[ReikiStar]

Nope, not too young to be cocci. That's probably the No.1 ailment with very young chicks. Get yourself to the feed store and get either Corid or Sulmet (Sulphur based med)...you might only be able to get one depending on what they carry. Cocci attacks fast...can be hours sometime so don't waste any time. I don't know about Corid packages but Sulmet is always for large doses. Use 1/2 tsp. in one of those 1 quart waterers. It's not necessary to treat all the chicks, because you want them to develop a natural immunity which is acquired simply by getting older and experiencing more cocci. But sometimes the little ones get overwhelmed by it and need a little medicine.

If that were my chick...this is the course I would take...pronto!!

 

[leadwolf1]

Thanks...but, I was always told to treat everyone since the sick one will be shedding the disease right in the brooder with them at 1 million times the normal rate. It is up to the OP but I would treat the whole brooder at once.

 

[smac324]

Thank you for responding!
There is no congestion and she is breathing fine. From the start, she ate and drank well, until I noticed yesterday she didn't eat at all. She is noticeably smaller than the other chicks. She began to eat a little today. I can feel some food in her crop. I am feeding MannaPro medicated chick starter and she was immunized for Merek's at the hatchery. There is amprolium in her feed. Is it safe to give the Corid or Sulmet in addition to what she has?
She goes through short periods of activity followed by mostly lethargy and weak eyes. Her poop was watery yesterday, but is returning to normal today although not as frequent as the others. I assumed that it was from her lack of eating yesterday.
One other thing that I have noticed and wondered if it's just the breed; she falls asleep standing up while the other nestle down in the pine shavings. When she dozes off, her front tips over and she wakes herself up and if she settles to a nesting position it wakes her as well. I think that may be why she is leaning on the wood. I have already prepared myself for the worst to happen, but tear up when I think about it. Here's another close up photo.

 

[ReikiStar]

Oh poor baby. She doesn't look like she feels good.

The medicated feed is a misnomer: Amprolium is a Thiamine inhibitor. Cocci feed on the vitamin (B1) Thiamine. Amprolium inhibits the chick from absorbing it and hence starving the cocci. That's just a measure, they can still be overcome by cocci while on the feed. I believe you can keep them on the feed while medicating them.

I'm very sure that's what's wrong with her. I've seen the falling over sleeping pattern in chicks sick with cocci before. You don't need to see bloody stool for it to be cocci. There are many different types of cocci, they will have different symptoms.

You can surely dose all the chicks if you want, but cocci is something they grow an immunity to. Why subject them to an antibiotic if their little systems are doing fine? When we've had a case of cocci in one chick, we only treated them and the rest of the chicks never came down with symptoms. Some just have stronger constitutions than others.

 

[smac324]

On my way to Tractor Supply. Thank you so much!!

 

[erinangele]

I'm a first time chick owner, so i don't actually have much advice. I just wanted to share that when my first 4 babies arrived one of them was much sleepier than the rest. Everyone would be pecking away and she would be under the lamp sleeping (they would also peck at her little eye, i separated and she was even more upset). Anyway, I put electrolytes in the water and she perked up within a day or two but was still obviously at the bottom of the chick totem pole. A week later i bought 2 more chicks. One of the new ones, a little golden laced wyndotte, was acting exactly the same way! She was sleeping under the lamp while the other 5 pecked away. This lasted a few days. Now she is much more active and joins the "flock" a little more, but has taken over the Delaware's place at the bottom of the totem pole. I can tell my little Delaware is happy about this

I hope the same goes for your little one. Good luck.

 

[smac324]

Quote:
And it did, leadwolf1. Thank you all for the great advice!!! I started Mable on Corid to treat her for cocci the evening of day 5. I'm also continuing her PolyViSol twice a day. I decided to just treat the one sick chick in hopes that the others will stay well since they have the help of medicated feed. Hopefully this exposure will further strengthen their immune system. I am watching them very carefully for any symptoms and so far, they are very active & trying to fly out of the brooder when I lift the top.
I'm happy to report that Mabel is slowly getting better. She has begun to eat much better, her eyes are brighter, she nestles down to rest like the other, she is preening herself, and has times where she takes off on a quick sprint. She is still a little wobbly and uses her wings to steady herself when she gets off balance. She was pasty this morning so I cleaned her bottom again and she was content with her blow dry. She is no longer peeping continuously or needing so much heat, and is joining in with her gal pals very nicely.
This morning I caught her trying to perch, but she doesn't have the balance to stay up there too long, but the fact that she is tying gives me hope for a full recovery.

I cannot begin to express how grateful I am for the support that a newbie like me can get from this wonderful forum. May God Bless you.

 

[erinangele]

She looks great! I'm so glad that she is feeling better!