Did Your Sick Chick Survive?

[ThatTeowonna]

I have a sick chick so I did a search on BYC to see what others did for their sick chick. What I found was a numerous posts asking (and sometimes begging) for assistance with a sick chick. Some went unanswered... some got detailed diagnosis. But few followed up to let us know if the chick recovered or died. So if you had a sick chick, especially if you asked for help on BYC, please tell us what became of your chick. Did the make it? If so, what condition are they in now?

 

[Duckbreeder2020]

I have a sick chick so I did a search on BYC to see what others did for their sick chick. What I found was a numerous posts asking (and sometimes begging) for assistance with a sick chick. Some went unanswered... some got detailed diagnosis. But few followed up to let us know if the chick recovered or died. So if you had a sick chick, especially if you asked for help on BYC, please tell us what became of your chick. Did the make it? If so, what condition are they in now?

I didn’t ask BYC what to do but I had a sick chick and it died

 

[Sarahh_Janeyy]

Been wondering this because everything I search ends up so negative I've seen very few survive on these threads... I don't know if it counts, but I did post about my sick 3 month old, and she survived. Not quite a chick though. I learned A LOT with help from BYC but ultimately if I hadn't brought her to the vet I don't think she would have survived. (The vet caught something I hadn't read/couldn't have learned from BYC)
Thread here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ex-need-advice-on-care-not-treatment.1379931/

 

[dfrusht]

I've had 3 die, my thread has not gotten any replies

 

[Sarahh_Janeyy]

My second sick chick survived- but again, not due to help on BYC- but only because we took it to the emergency vet. BYC is great for information, but if your chicken is in immediate distress, best to take it to the vet if you can afford it. 100% if I had listened to the advice I got when I posted about my sick chickens in the past, at least 2 of my chickens would no longer be with me.

 

[Broody_Mama]

Unfortunately, help is hit or miss on this site. Sometimes my threads get responses, but sometimes it's crickets chirping (always seems to be when I'm the most desperate for answers).

Can't really vote on this one, because my response doesn't fit into any of the options very well. I had one sick chick a few years back who I posted about - turned out she had wry neck. I did get some great advice, and she's still alive and thriving. However, I had an issue with her a few weeks ago and posted here, but got no response. Happy to say, she bounced back again.

In another case, I had an issue with a hatching chick... didn't get much help on my post. Sadly, I had to cull the baby chick and it was quite devastating for me. I hope to never have to do that again, but I know that I may need to at some point.

In all cases, I have updated my threads (even if no one responded) just in case someone else has a similar problem.

Raising chicks can be so hard at times - or, should I say, heartbreaking. You will have losses. Sometimes those losses will come no matter what you try. It won't be easy. You may even shed some tears. But, in the end, I've found the good has greatly outweighed all the bad. It's been so much fun and so incredibly rewarding!

I hope your sick chick makes a full recovery.

 

[Sarahh_Janeyy]

Unfortunately, help is hit or miss on this site. Sometimes my threads get responses, but sometimes it's crickets chirping (always seems to be when I'm the most desperate for answers).

Can't really vote on this one, because my response doesn't fit into any of the options very well. I had one sick chick a few years back who I posted about - turned out she had wry neck. I did get some great advice, and she's still alive and thriving. However, I had an issue with her a few weeks ago and posted here, but got no response. Happy to say, she bounced back again.

In another case, I had an issue with a hatching chick... didn't get much help on my post. Sadly, I had to cull the baby chick and it was quite devastating for me. I hope to never have to do that again, but I know that I may need to at some point.

In all cases, I have updated my threads (even if no one responded) just in case someone else has a similar problem.

Raising chicks can be so hard at times - or, should I say, heartbreaking. You will have losses. Sometimes those losses will come no matter what you try. It won't be easy. You may even shed some tears. But, in the end, I've found the good has greatly outweighed all the bad. It's been so much fun and so incredibly rewarding!

I hope your sick chick makes a full recovery.

Hey- my first problem chicken had wry neck as well, and she has had reoccurring problems. I missed your post, but I'll go look for it now and see if I can add any input on what helped us. Our chicken seems like she will be special needs for life- but like I said, if I had listened to people on this board, they were telling me to cull her :/ She's doing great now and I'm glad we didn't listen. I enjoy this board a lot but sometimes it's hard to be on for any length of time, for me. Of course, that causes me to miss out on posts that I could maybe actually help on.

 

[Tonyroo]

When post don't get answered, it's sometimes relates to people not able to answer. Due to no experience or having little knowledge based on the situation. I've had my share of unanswered posts so I understand.

When people suggest culling a bird, it's from there own experiences and reasoning. So it's important to read it as a suggestion and not the only option.

When a real emergency arises your best bet is to see a vet and not BYC.

For me BYC is best used like a library of information.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Well, I am the odd one out, here. My sick chick is thriving 3 years later. And my rooster had what I thought was a prolapsed vent, but it was just protruding. BYC folks told me that it wasn't really prolapsed. He's thriving, too, 2 years later.

I don't think I've ever had a post go unanswered. Sometimes, the moderators will post an "Unanswered Threads" post. That usually stirs things up. Also, if the site is really busy, new posts can sometimes get buried in myriad new posts. You can always "bump" a thread by replying to it yourself or by adding updates.

Lastly, I find that if a person is inexperienced or lacking the knowledge to help, they'll tag others. I find this site to be ridiculously helpful whether it's for an emergency situation, a quick question, or conducting research. I'm sorry if that's not been your experience.

Is your chick currently sick? I might be able to help or tag someone else who can.

 

[RGB RIP]

One day last year I went out to the brooder and found one of my chicks lying on her back, cold, next to the feeder. She looked dead but was still breathing, so I held her under my shirt to warm her up a bit. Once she seemed to stir a little, I fed her some water with a syringe. Little by little over the next few hours she got better, and I was able to give her some oatmeal and some ACV in water. By afternoon she was able to go back into the brooder.

Several people told me she would likely not survive, but she did make it all the way to adulthood. She was never a normal chicken, though. She was always a little undersized and matured much more slowly than the other birds, and she was definitely not the smartest. One of her feet grew a little deformed, with the toes pointing the wrong way, but she didn't seem to have any trouble getting around on it. She got along fine with the other hens. She eventually started laying eggs.

Unfortunately, she did die before reaching a year old. She was the first to go broody, and I had a hard time breaking her of it. Then she went on a laying binge and laid an egg a day for a couple of weeks. She died very suddenly of coccidiosis, which is unusual in an adult chicken in clean conditions, when none of the other birds contract it. I think the broodiness and the egg laying were all just too much for her frail little body, and her immune system got depleted.

She was a sweet little chicken, very affectionate, and we enjoyed having her while she lasted. But I now understand that a sick chick often has other underlying problems, which is why a lot of people won't go to great lengths to save them.

BTW, I highly recommend that you order some CORID to keep on hand if it's not easy to get where you live. It's a basic treatment and preventative for coccidiosis, and it's quite effective if you get it into them the minute you notice any symptoms. Unfortunately,
where I live in California you can only get it prescribed through a vet, and most vets here A) don't see chickens, B) charge a small fortune to see a chicken, C) don't stock it, and D) make you wait for lab work to come back, which takes so long the chicken will be long dead when you get the results back. You can order it through Amazon, though, and it's just one of those things that is good to have on hand, especially because coccidiosis is highly contagious to the rest of your flock.