Gasping chick

[Grey Gables]

I know there are all sorts of threads on this but looking for help and advice.

I had four two week old chicks. One passed Saturday night. That one was eating, drinking, pooping fine but not growing at the same rate. I disinfected everything the next day just in case and hoped it was just a failure to thrive situation.

But yesterday I felt like something was off with another one. As the day progressed she got a little wobbly, not too bad. Some sneezing. Still eat and drinks. Poop is a little soft. Then yesterday evening she started gasping. It eventually got better but I assumed I’d wake up to another dead chick. She made it through the night. I fed them all and shortly after the same chick began gasping again. It seems like she gasps worse after eating. So is this respiratory, is there an issue with her throat? Is it cruel to keep her alive? It’s heartbreaking to watch her but I also want to give her a chance if there is one. Please, any advice would help.

 

[Eggcessive]

Where did the chick come from, your hatching, from a breeder, or a hatchery. Respiratory diseases, such as infectious bronchitis or mycoplasma (MG, CRD,) can show up at 2-3 weeks if the chick came from a place where there were carriers. MG can also be transmitted through hatching eggs. Tylosin powder in the water might help with symptoms if she drinks enough. It is available here by mail:
https://www.jedds.com/shop/tylan-soluble-100-g/
If you see a vet they can prescribe something. Make sure there is good ventilation, and prevent mold by keeping the bedding dry and clean. Dust, mold, and ammonia odors can lead to respiratory problems.

 

[Grey Gables]

Where did the chick come from, your hatching, from a breeder, or a hatchery. Respiratory diseases, such as infectious bronchitis or mycoplasma (MG, CRD,) can show up at 2-3 weeks if the chick came from a place where there were carriers. MG can also be transmitted through hatching eggs. Tylosin powder in the water might help with symptoms if she drinks enough. It is available here by mail:
https://www.jedds.com/shop/tylan-soluble-100-g/
If you see a vet they can prescribe something. Make sure there is good ventilation, and prevent mold by keeping the bedding dry and clean. Dust, mold, and ammonia odors can lead to respiratory problems.

Thank you - appreciate your wisdom.
She came from a reputable breeder. I’ve gotten other chicks from the breeder before and not had issues. I only have 3 in my brooder, which is very well ventilated and very clean. I truly believe I’m doing all the things I can do to give the chicks a healthy environment. They’re fed medicated chick crumbles, fresh water every day, and I use a Brinsea for heat. I put paper towels over the bedding the last few days to minimize any potential dust just in case it was worsening any of the symptoms.

Just got through another bad gasping spurt. She hung out under the heater for awhile then started eating with the other chicks. Will monitor to see if the gasping starts back up. One thing to add - her chirping started sounding different as of yesterday. Which I’m sure isn’t that big of a surprise if she had a respiratory issue. Just thought I’d add that while I was thinking of it.

 

[Grey Gables]

This was last night:

https://youtube.com/shorts/5GPQQkLl3UU?feature=share

You can see she’s a little wobbly. You’ll see a sneeze. She does a little of the gasping. Her little chirp sounds more like a squeaker from a dog toy.

 

[Grey Gables]

Wanted to give an update in case anyone can help figure out what's going on...

Yesterday, as the day went on, my chick sounded a little better -- her chirp sounded more normal and she perked up a little. She was still gasping here and there but not so dramatically and audibly. It was silent. My vet prescribed oxytetracycline for the sneezing (all three of my chicks have sneezes, although the BLRW's is the worst). So as of yesterday afternoon, that has been mixed into their water.

Today, the BLRW has been "okay." This afternoon she has gone into another gasping fit where I can hear her from the other room. The gasping is not constant. She'll have it for quite awhile pretty bad, then it will turn into more subdued quiet gasping, and eventually it seems to stop. I can’t figure out a pattern but I still wonder if eating makes it worse. She grooms herself, eats, drinks, poops. She definitely isn’t 100% and stays under the heater more than the other two. But she does have “good” moments. I don’t know if she has an internal defect, if she is sick with something, if she swallowed something that could be making it painful for her to poop...? I had my chicks on puppy pee pads/paper towels the first few days then added a little bit of hemp bedding. I’ve since removed the bedding just in case and can more easily monitor the poop situation.

First video: 4/26 8:30 am (Posted in my original post)
2nd video: 4/25 10:30 pm (Posted in an above comment)
3rd video: 4/26 1:00 pm

4th video: 4/26 2:00 pm (you’ll see her struggle(?)/gasp and poop and then almost perk up?)

5th video: 4/27 3:30 pm (you’ll see the sneeze that my three chicks have, although this one has it the worse and you’ll see her go for food while she’s gasping — weird ?)

 

[Grey Gables]

Wanted to follow up... Not sure if these posts help anyone, since I still don't know what was wrong. But maybe if anyone ends up recognizing the symptoms someday, they can comment and fill me in!

On Wednesday (4/28) the BLRW chick was beginning to fall and have seizures. She'd "recover" each time but still seemed lethargic and was silently gasping. By the third one I knew there wasn't any hope for her unfortunately. I could really see her declining and didn't want her to suffer any longer. Bravo to anyone who can take care of culling a chick... I cannot. I luckily got into my chicken vet that afternoon and the chick was euthanized. So sad that I lost two in a matter of days and I put everything I had into saving this one. I guess it just wasn't meant to be. Hoping my last two continue to grow/thrive. I've sanitized everything in the brooder twice and still have them on the antibiotic to hopefully help with their sneezing. Fingers crossed.

 

[Mglinski]

Wanted to follow up... Not sure if these posts help anyone, since I still don't know what was wrong. But maybe if anyone ends up recognizing the symptoms someday, they can comment and fill me in!

On Wednesday (4/28) the BLRW chick was beginning to fall and have seizures. She'd "recover" each time but still seemed lethargic and was silently gasping. By the third one I knew there wasn't any hope for her unfortunately. I could really see her declining and didn't want her to suffer any longer. Bravo to anyone who can take care of culling a chick... I cannot. I luckily got into my chicken vet that afternoon and the chick was euthanized. So sad that I lost two in a matter of days and I put everything I had into saving this one. I guess it just wasn't meant to be. Hoping my last two continue to grow/thrive. I've sanitized everything in the brooder twice and still have them on the antibiotic to hopefully help with their sneezing. Fingers crossed.

What ate you using to sanitize? This could be cause as well. I would not use anything other than vinegar. It does sound respiratory related, but to be on safe side for crop health, I would only use newspaper for bedding for first 2 weeks. We upgrade to shavings after that. If your doing all correctly, it honestly could just be disease from breeder.

 

[Dr Evy]

Wanted to follow up... Not sure if these posts help anyone, since I still don't know what was wrong. But maybe if anyone ends up recognizing the symptoms someday, they can comment and fill me in!

On Wednesday (4/28) the BLRW chick was beginning to fall and have seizures. She'd "recover" each time but still seemed lethargic and was silently gasping. By the third one I knew there wasn't any hope for her unfortunately. I could really see her declining and didn't want her to suffer any longer. Bravo to anyone who can take care of culling a chick... I cannot. I luckily got into my chicken vet that afternoon and the chick was euthanized. So sad that I lost two in a matter of days and I put everything I had into saving this one. I guess it just wasn't meant to be. Hoping my last two continue to grow/thrive. I've sanitized everything in the brooder twice and still have them on the antibiotic to hopefully help with their sneezing. Fingers crossed.

I’m so sorry about your chickens you tried your best

 

[Grey Gables]

What ate you using to sanitize? This could be cause as well. I would not use anything other than vinegar. It does sound respiratory related, but to be on safe side for crop health, I would only use newspaper for bedding for first 2 weeks. We upgrade to shavings after that. If your doing all correctly, it honestly could just be disease from breeder.

I used vinegar twice -- once after the first one died on Sunday morning, 4/25 (which at the time, I thought that was a failure to thrive issue, but thought I should disinfect to be safe). Then I did vinegar again Monday evening (4/26). After that I used a Chlorhexidine/water mix. Every time I sanitize I give the brooder a chance to air out for a little while before I put the chicks back in.

I switched them to the hemp around the 2 week mark and only had the hemp in for a few days. I use the exact same hemp with my grown flock with no issues. I used hemp with my chicks last spring (obviously not the same bag of hemp) and had no issues.

Thanks for your input. I think I'm doing it all correctly. Just a super unfortunate situation.

 

[Myrshine]

What kind of bedding material are you using? If this one dies, I think it’s best to send the body off to be tested, it’s the best way to know 100%. I also suggest that any birds that have came into contact or have been potentially exposed with these chicks, should be separated ASAP in case it’s a respiratory disease. I also suggest that you don’t breed from these chicks until you get testing done, a very common respiratory disease called Mycoplasma Gallisepticum (MG), is THE MOST common respiratory disease out there and it can passed via the eggs from the infected parents.

So yea, get testing done as soon as possible!