DROPPER FEEDING STARVING BABY CHICK

[Stewarts]

I have a baby chick with weak legs. She can walk but has no energy to. I just started dropper feeding her a little sugar water. I have yogurt and chick feed as well. She takes the liquid readily, how do I get her to eat yogurt mixed with chick feed and what else can I do for her? She can walk, I've seen her do it. I have to feed her till she gets stronger.

Aside from sugar water, what can I give her? A little warmed milk?

I desperately need advice here!

Stephanie

 

[Lacy Blues]

If you have some chick starter, crumble it between your fingers and let it fall directly in front of her. She'll likely peck at them, thus learning to eat. If your have some quik chik vitamin supplement for her water, that would be better than sugar. Yogurt is good, as long as it is plain and unsweetened.

Also, if you tap the area where the crumbled starter is with a fingernail and cluck at the chick (like a mama hen would do) I've found that it works WONDERS in getting them to try.

Good luck.

 

[Stewarts]

I have chick starter and was thinking of giving her cooked yolk. My hubby suggests a little bit of Electrolyte.
I will try your suggestion. Since giving her a little bit of sugar water at 2 am this morning and again at 7 am, she is up on her feet and walking a little. I was very concerned that something was wrong with her legs but they are well formed and working.
Thank you for the sites.

 

[lazy gardener]

I have chick starter and was thinking of giving her cooked yolk. My hubby suggests a little bit of Electrolyte.
I will try your suggestion. Since giving her a little bit of sugar water at 2 am this morning and again at 7 am, she is up on her feet and walking a little. I was very concerned that something was wrong with her legs but they are well formed and working.
Thank you for the sites.

I had one that was on the verge of death due to vitamin e deficiency. You might try mixing the chick starter with warm water into a slurry and offering it to her with a spoon. Recommendation is to hand feed every 2 hours. (I did well to get 4 feedings into her/day to start, then decreased to 2 - 3 times/day) You'll have to keep an eye on her crop, and if it doesn't empty before the next feeding, you'll need to gently massage in a downward motion to get it to empty. when I started hand feeding my chick, I initially let the slurry drip onto the crook of my finger while I held her and she would slurp it up from there. I had to hold her head up for her at that point, and she had a hard time standing up. I used baby parrot hand feeding formula, and enriched it with a product called "nutri drench". (and vit E to address my chicks specific need) After a couple of days, she stood up and slurped from a spoon. A day or more and she was perching on my finger to eat. Now, aside from the blue laundry marker I used to mark her for quick identification, I can't tell her apart from the others.

 

[Stewarts]

She is stronger now; she stands and walks fine. She has this peculiar quirk where she flips herself on her back and yells like crazy for me to stand her back up. I'd try what you suggest. She seems very drowsy and just wants to sleep all the time. I may have to get some nutri drench for her.

Where exactly is her crop?

 

[lazy gardener]

She is stronger now; she stands and walks fine. She has this peculiar quirk where she flips herself on her back and yells like crazy for me to stand her back up. I'd try what you suggest. She seems very drowsy and just wants to sleep all the time. I may have to get some nutri drench for her.

Where exactly is her crop?

If you can imagine a chicken having an adam's apple, it would be slightly below that and somewhat to the right. Pick up one of your other checks and gently feel the full length of the front of the neck from the top all the way to the chest. If they've been eating, you'll feel some fullness in the crop and you may even be able to discern chick kibble rolling around in there. If you're gentle, you won't hurt her.