Day old chick cannot walk, falls on side

[kuchchicks]

Just poli vi sol. Should I try to find those for the yellow chick? Where would I get it?

 

[WVduckchick]

Wow! That's excellent about the black one! Continued luck with little yellow.

 

[lazy gardener]

The brain is incredibly plastic, especially in a young one. Which means that in the face of brain injury, it is capable of developing new pathways to make up for lost function. But, often with a chick that is so compromised at hatch, it will not thrive as an adult. The difference between doing intensive rehab, which you are doing, and culling immediately, which some other hatchers would choose to do, is... I'm sure you know, the difference between the poultry keepers attitude towards their flock. Are they pets, or are they farm animals? I'm delighted that your black chick is making wonderful progress. I'd not be surprised if that one goes on to become a productive flock member. The yellow one... only time will tell. You're doing a great job. Does she hold her head up well? Does she crook her neck habitually in a particular direction? As I recall, you said she repeatedly falls to the right? If you can get her to participate, you might try blocking her from moving forward, get her to stand, and gently push against her shoulder/mid section from the right. When she is able to stay upright as you remove your finger, you can progress to providing a gentle push from the left side to encourage her to shift more weight over to the right leg. Of course, you have to have a compliant chick to do this maneuver! Your pushes should be very brief, less than a second each, and very gentle... only enough to provide the mildest movement fluctuation. See if she will tolerate up to 3 repetitions at a time before increasing, and only progress to the resistance from the left when she is able to stand fairly well without support. These maneuvers may be too difficult for her. In that case, you would back up and try providing the stimulation at her head, working on strengthening her neck muscles. In human development, head control comes before trunk control. So, you might want to try providing gentle neck therapy. Use her natural chicken behaviors. Can you cup her in your hand, and get her to focus on a particular object. Then move her body with the goal of having her stay focused on that object. ie: her head will not move but you are moving her body up/down, left/right. You'll want to pay particular attention to getting her to flex her neck to the right. Give her plenty of visual stimulation. LOTS of things to peck at. Perhaps hang some colorful beads at different heights in the brooder. Put squiggles and dots on the walls of the brooder with a sharpie.

If you choose to cull, IMO, decapitation would be less traumatic for the chick in the long run than the CO2. Perhaps more difficult for you, but less lengthy stress for the chick.

 

[lazy gardener]

If I were you, I'd get some poultry Nutri-drench. It's formulated specifically for poultry, and is absorbed directly into the blood stream. I just did a google of Polyvisol, and it's got B vitamins in it.

http://www.amazon.com/Enfamil-Poly-Vi-Sol-Multivitamin-Supplement-Toddlers/dp/B001F0RA0W

It does not have Selenium. I don't remember if it has Vitamin E, which is an other important one. Are you using medicated feed? That has Amprolium, which is a Thiamine blocker. I'd not be using medicated feed if I were you! You can go to any store that sells vitamins, and buy a small bottle of selenium. Remember that the pills you will be buying are formulated for a human adult! So, you'll just be scraping a tiny tiny bit off the side of a pill, barely enough for you to see!

Now, my disclaimer: I am in no way qualified to give any medical advice for any species! Any thing you do will be of your own choosing, and could help, or it could do nothing, or it could harm!!!

 

[lazy gardener]

Be sure your Polyvisol does not have any Iron in it. The formulation I looked at DOES have iron!

 

[kuchchicks]

I did specifically make sure the Poly-Vi-Sol I bought was iron free. My two Local feed stores do not carry Nutri drench. I'm going to head out to Tractor Supply which is a little further away and hope they have it. Thank you all for your support and suggestions. I'm very grateful for the help!

 

[lazy gardener]

Good. You're doing well.

 

[casportpony]

Are you giving B vitamins and Selenium?

How much selenium can a chick that small have?

-Kathy

 

[kuchchicks]

How much selenium can a chick that small have?

-Kathy

And I am sure this was covered somewhere but I have taken in so much info over the past few days it is starting to blur... The selenium is used for what? To aid in the absorption of Vit E? Also I just read that the Vit A in Poli Vi Sol may interfere with the Vit E... anyone else hear this?

 

[lazy gardener]

You can drive yourself crazy with all of the literature regarding nutrient absorption. The best you can do, is offer the extra nutrients, and hope it makes a difference. Here's a thought: Are you giving dry chick crumble? Have you tried making it into a slurry... kind of like cooked oat meal? They might do better eating it moist. If you want to take it one step further, you can give fermented feed. My flock is on FF, and does great on it. They lay sooner and more than the birds of my friends/neighbors who don't use FF. You can do some reading on the fermented feed threads.