Floppy 3 month old chick

[hilltopchicks77]

My 3 month old chick lives outside and is kinda floppy. It didn’t go to bed in the coop with its siblings. It was laying on the ground outside. The temps were much hotter the past 2 days than they have been. When I stood it up it’s just kinda floppy. Eyes are bright and open, no weird discharge or swelling. I brought it inside and gave it food and water and hydro hen water. Anything else I should watch or do?

 

[azygous]

Dehydration will produce those symptoms. Poor balance, drunken gait, and even paralysis are symptoms of electrolyte imbalance. Treatment is electrolytes in sugar water and cooling.

 

[hilltopchicks77]

Dehydration will produce those symptoms. Poor balance, drunken gait, and even paralysis are symptoms of electrolyte imbalance. Treatment is electrolytes in sugar water and cooling.

That’s kinda what I was “hoping” for. Not that I would ever wish one sick but it’s an easier treatment than many other things. Guess I’ll see what the hydro hen does for it overnight.

 

[hilltopchicks77]

Checked on it this morning. Still kinda floppy, maybe a little hunched. Pooped twice overnight. Nothing weird looking about the poop. Crop feels a bit hard like there’s food in it. Still nothing else visibly wrong. Looks like it did drink and eat a little bit.

 

[azygous]

Giving the chick a bit of coconut oil in case it's got impacted crop or impacted gizzard would be a good idea. Chill it to make it hard and easy to stick into the beak. Use about a teaspoon full.

If the chick is weak, it may not be drinking enough to recover from dehydration. This would also affect the crop and gizzard if dehydration is the issue. If you can, it would be a good idea to use an oral syringe to get more fluids into this chick. Do it like this:

 

[hilltopchicks77]

Giving the chick a bit of coconut oil in case it's got impacted crop or impacted gizzard would be a good idea. Chill it to make it hard and easy to stick into the beak. Use about a teaspoon full.

If the chick is weak, it may not be drinking enough to recover from dehydration. This would also affect the crop and gizzard if dehydration is the issue. If you can, it would be a good idea to use an oral syringe to get more fluids into this chick. Do it like this:View attachment 2709280

How much/often do they need to drink? I have 2 ml of water with hydro hen and 2 more like an hour later. Seemed a bit perkier. I have not done the coconut oil yet. Did offer some yogurt and it seems to be pecking that a bit

 

[azygous]

Try getting some fluids into the chick every hour for as long as it takes for it to resume normal behavior.

 

[hilltopchicks77]

Try getting some fluids into the chick every hour for as long as it takes for it to resume normal behavior.

I got a little fluid in today and a little coconut oil and gave it a little egg yolk (raw)

 

[hilltopchicks77]

It died overnight. It’s been 2 days and no one else is showing signs of being sick. Can 1 chick have failure to thrive? It was almost 3 months so it’s a bit weird and I’m not sure. Should I give everyone else some vitamins in case?

 

[azygous]

At three months, it's unlikely the chick was failure to thrive. It could have been starved away from the feeder or became dehydrated or both. I'm so sorry you lost her.

If your chicks are getting a commercial feed, they don't need vitamins.

It's important to observe your chickens' behavior every day. That way you become accustomed to what their normal behavior is and when a chicken starts to have a health issue, you will be more likely to noticed it in time to do something to turn it around.

A sick chicken stops being vocal, becomes lethargic, may have poor appetite, may have unusual poop. It may self isolate, stand in a corner facing the wall, and be fluffed up or have its tail down low.