Dying Chick: Please help!

[Birb Mom]

Just yesterday I brought home 6 lovely ameraucana chicks. I got them all settled int their brooder and they were pretty happy, all but one. One slept more than the other, just flopped over. She was listless and didn't respond as fast as the other chicks did. She had two bloody poos, making me scare she had cocci. The feed they are eating is medicated and is supposed to prevent/treat cocci.

Today she got worse. She can hardly stand and she won't really eat or drink. Her breathing is heavy. The others keep pecking at her and she does nothing. She lets her wings splay out and doesn't always tuck in her feet. I'm super worried about her and have grown very attached, having not left their side during any of my waking hours since when I brought them home yesterday afternoon. This little girl is the only one with a name, Maeve. I hope she keeps fighting.

Any advice? Should I get some cocci meds and syringe a little into her mouth? Do I let her die? Please help, I love her.

 

[Pyxis]

With the bloody poop, I would go ahead and treat for coccidiosis, just in case. You can pick Corid up at the feed store and start adding it to their water. Medicated feed isn't a guarantee they won't come down with it.

Also get something called Poultry Nutri-Drench, and immediately give her a few drops orally (don't force it, you don't want her to aspirate, gently open her beak, put a drop at the tip, then let her go so she can tip her head back and swallow on her own). It will give her a boost and might help her pull through.

If the others are pecking at her, also make her her own separate space so that they can't do that. You might need to make a whole new brooder for her. You can try putting one of the more docile chicks in with her for company.

Also, just in case, check for pasty butt and make sure she's not suffering from that and clear it up if she is.

 

[Birb Mom]

Thanks so much for your advice. I would have gone ahead and followed it, but shortly after I made this post my chick's health declined rapidly. She convulsed and died and in mother's hands. We filled a small box with shavings and pretty flowers and put her in there. Then I buried her myself. Poor Maeve will be missed, but I'm glad I could give her lots of love before she passed.

Turns out she had been vaccinated for cocci at the hatchery she came from. Plus she was only a day or two old. The workers at the feedstore I got her from were baffled by the sudden illness and death. Now I am giving the rest of my flock small doses of corid in their water for safety's sake and they are all healthy and happy.