Dying baby chicks......how to save them?

[LBristow]

Kia ora,

If anyone has any suggestions please comment!

The mother hen abandoned the remaining few eggs. Amongst the eggs, was a hatched chick. The chick seems in pretty poor condition. I am trying to keep it warm, however I am not sure what food and how often to try and feed it? I tried saving a previously hatched chick yesterday that the same mother hen discarded. I tried feeding it glucose water for the first day. It seemed to perk up and it looked as though if it was going to survive however after a few minutes of feeding it some egg yolk the following morning, it looked like it went into some kind of a seizure and straight away it died, very sad to watch! I'd rather not this not happen again, does anybody have any suggestions as how to help this sick chick?

many thanks.

 

[lazy gardener]

Are you putting the liquid in the chick's mouth? When a chick hatches, she has enough nutrition from her absorbed yolk, and actually does not need to eat for 48 hours. By trying to feed a chick before she is ready to drink and eat, you may be causing her to aspirate, or draw the water/food into her lungs. Obviously, this will kill her. An other question I have is: are you providing heat? A newly hatched chick needs to be kept around 90 - 95*F.

Do you know why the mother abandoned the nest? Did any of her chicks survive? It's possible that she abandoned the nest b/c the chicks/eggs were not viable. Hens have an instinct about such things, and will abandon an egg that is not developing properly, and will also abandon an abnormal chick.

 

[LBristow]

the first chick that hatched she abandoned, i think it could be due to it's yolk sack hadn't been absorbed and was still attached. The second chick hatched and she took to that one. THe third one to hatch, she abandoned it, along with the rest of the eggs. I have the alive chick along with the other eggs under a light. I am not sure how long the eggs were cold for before I took them.

Do you know a recipe for chick feed? I can't seem to find one.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Your feed store should have chick feed. As an emergency measure you could feed boiled egg mashed up but let them eat it on their own. Any flock feed or game bird feed would work if ground up but i would not give layer feed because of all the calcium. Good luck.

 

[casportpony]

the first chick that hatched she abandoned, i think it could be due to it's yolk sack hadn't been absorbed and was still attached. The second chick hatched and she took to that one. THe third one to hatch, she abandoned it, along with the rest of the eggs. I have the alive chick along with the other eggs under a light. I am not sure how long the eggs were cold for before I took them.

Do you know a recipe for chick feed? I can't seem to find one.

Welcome to BYC! Do you live in the US? If so, go to Tractor Supply and get a small bag of chick starter.

Are the eggs and chick under a 250-watt heat lamp?

 

[LBristow]

They are under a 200W bulb. The eggs do not show any sign of hatching.....it has been about 24/25 days however the alive chick only hatched today so am wanting to wait a little longer before I discard them.
i am in New Zealand, we do not have 'Tractor Supply' here unfortunately. I was wondering if anyone knew of a DIY recipe......I do not live close to anywhere that sells chook feed so was wanting to grind some stuff up to feed it however am not sure what proteins/grains are suitable.
MAny thanks for your help.

 

[casportpony]

They are under a 200W bulb. The eggs do not show any sign of hatching.....it has been about 24/25 days however the alive chick only hatched today so am wanting to wait a little longer before I discard them.
i am in New Zealand, we do not have 'Tractor Supply' here unfortunately. I was wondering if anyone knew of a DIY recipe......I do not live close to anywhere that sells chook feed so was wanting to grind some stuff up to feed it however am not sure what proteins/grains are suitable.
MAny thanks for your help.

That does make it more complicated. I have no idea how one would go about making their own feed.

 

[casportpony]

Maybe @ChickenCanoe might know?

 

[chickengeorgeto]

the first chick.... she abandoned... The second chick hatched and she took to that one. THe third one to hatch, she abandoned....

Over how many hours or days did this take place?

 

[LBristow]

not sure exactly.....probably between 24-36hours