Day old chick - Leg Weakness

[Chipmunk Chicks]

So far, the chicks are all doing great!

We've graduated today up from paper towel to shredded paper for bedding in the little brooder crate, but already wondering how long they will last in there before they move into the big one.

Peep is still smaller than the rest, (she is the yellow chick at the bottom edge of the picture above), but I do see growth from one day to the next, so I haven't worried about getting weights on her quite yet. We are just taking it a day at a time, but she seems to be hopping around the brooder with the best of them! Although I often find her bathing right under the heat lamp at the front of the pack, and she is still a little wobbly when she stands, but she does spend more time standing like the rest of the chicks, so it's progress. It doesn't help though that the Bielefelders already seem gigantic next to her lol even though they and the Wyandottes should only be a day or two apart. But she really does not appear to be getting picked on, and it seems like they are happy to let her take the prime warming spot, so hey! Hoping these are all signs of a well balanced little flock that all gets along as they mature.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Cute chicks!
I'm glad things are going o.k.

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

Update: I was happy to see her perching a bit on the feeder, but honestly it seems odd now, because none of the other chicks perch like that so much of the time, and often she is over there perched, separated from the rest of the flock. She's also shaking her head a little, twitchy like, which I don't really notice from the others. Her feathers look ragged compared to the others. As I'm typing this, she came down from her little feeder perch, got some nutri-drench water, and went back to perching. :/

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

I have been offering a few drops of B vitamins as well each day which she drinks from the palm of my hand. If I have Vitamin E capsules, how would I go about administering that to a chick? Should I increase to twice a day?

@Wyorp Rock

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

I found instructions on how to administer the Vitamin E with a little scrambled egg here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/treatment-for-wry-neck.1533452/#post-25857168

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

So I had DH pick up some Vitamin E last night, since we must have run out. This morning I cooked up an egg and mixed about a tsp with the contents of a 400iu capsule. I have her separated with the egg and a pinch of grit, but she really hasn't touched the food (apart from stepping in it). I got her a little water and I'm just hanging out watching and waiting, but I'm not sure how long to give her, or what to do if she doesn't eat it.

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

Peep wasn't interested in eating the food, and by about an hour nothing had changed except voicing more urgently her desire to be back with her flockmates. I mixed another four capsules in with the balance of the egg and put it all in the brooder, as well as fresh clean water (no nutridrench) and removed the crumble temporarily until the egg is gone. I have seen them all pecking at the egg now, which is good, but of course I won't be getting a full dose into Peep this way, and I'll have no way of knowing who got how much. Ruby seems like she may have started the head tick now, too, so I don't mind giving them all extra vitamin E for the next two weeks, jic.

For now that's the plan anyway. I'm not sure it's worth the stress of separating her each time, but I could do an egg split two ways with 4-5 capsules in each, so there's still one full capsule in there per chick. Beyond that, I'm not sure. I might try squeezing a capsule out into my palm and seeing if she may drink some that way, since that's been working for the B vitamins. We'll see!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

This is how to administer oral meds https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/ or one drop at a time right inside the beak letting them swallow after each one. Nutri drench along with vitamin E prick the soft gel cap and squeeze over feed. also scrambled eggs to get selenium into this chick. If an injury all of this will work as support until healed.

@Eggcessive

You mention that you had found this post as a way to administer the Vitamin E. If she were mine, I would do as suggested and just price the gel capsule, then squeeze the contents into her beak or you can draw it into a syringe and give it to her a few drops at a time. There's not a lot of oil in the gel cap.

You can just take her out for a few minutes each day to get the vitamins into her, then put her back with her friends.

I found instructions on how to administer the Vitamin E with a little scrambled egg here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/treatment-for-wry-neck.1533452/#post-25857168

Peep wasn't interested in eating the food, and by about an hour nothing had changed except voicing more urgently her desire to be back with her flockmates. I mixed another four capsules in with the balance of the egg and put it all in the brooder, as well as fresh clean water (no nutridrench) and removed the crumble temporarily until the egg is gone. I have seen them all pecking at the egg now, which is good, but of course I won't be getting a full dose into Peep this way, and I'll have no way of knowing who got how much. Ruby seems like she may have started the head tick now, too, so I don't mind giving them all extra vitamin E for the next two weeks, jic.

For now that's the plan anyway. I'm not sure it's worth the stress of separating her each time, but I could do an egg split two ways with 4-5 capsules in each, so there's still one full capsule in there per chick. Beyond that, I'm not sure. I might try squeezing a capsule out into my palm and seeing if she may drink some that way, since that's been working for the B vitamins. We'll see!

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

You mention that you had found this post as a way to administer the Vitamin E. If she were mine, I would do as suggested and just price the gel capsule, then squeeze the contents into her beak or you can draw it into a syringe and give it to her a few drops at a time. There's not a lot of oil in the gel cap.

You can just take her out for a few minutes each day to get the vitamins into her, then put her back with her friends.

What if I can't get her beak open? From my palm I was just dipping her beak in and then waiting for her to take a few sips. Obviously with the oil it makes a huge mess all over my hand, and I would rather do straight from the capsule or use a syringe, but holding her, plus prying her beak open, plus pushing a syringe, I just feel like it's not enough hands. Maybe there is a trick or something I am missing.

I just tried with a syringe and I think about all I succeeded in was getting more of it on her poor little face. If I use the edge of the syringe to pry the top open somehow, the opening would be on the top of her mouth. I tried to use a nail but I can't really get in there unless she opens it to chirp. If I wait for her to chirp, I can get it open a little bit, but then I have zero control with the syringe and I don't want to choke her.

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

Okay, so Peep got her B vitamins this morning, and now lunch is served. She will get a second dose now, and I've scrambled up an egg, and squeezed out nine capsules to mix in for nine chicks. I pulled the crumble, gave fresh water, and set the two dishes of egg in the brooder. The chicks are going crazy! lol

Next, I will try to give Peep her own capsule, but at least if they all gobble up the egg I will worry less, and know that I tried...