Help! Baby chick…sick or normal?

[Ashleys backyard farm]

Hello
I have just gotten an assortment of new chicks this past week, all seem to be growing and looking very good except one. He/she (bought straight-run but for the time being it’s a her lol) is a crested polish chicken and is 5 days old. unlike the others she hasn’t grown at all like the others and is very sleepy and not very active. Her breathing is rapid and everytime I check on them she is always asleep.
I have manually given water to make sure she’s drinking (which I don’t think she’s been doing herself) and I haven’t seen her actually eat only peck at the food.
I’m really worried and don’t want to lose a little chick like this. I’m not sure if I should remove her from the brood since she’s getting trampled on.
If anyone has some advice or a similar situation please comment.
Ps. This is her (Lois) and is currently asleep under my heated blanket

 

[Aunt Angus]

Hello
I have just gotten an assortment of new chicks this past week, all seem to be growing and looking very good except one. He/she (bought straight-run but for the time being it’s a her lol) is a crested polish chicken and is 5 days old. unlike the others she hasn’t grown at all like the others and is very sleepy and not very active. Her breathing is rapid and everytime I check on them she is always asleep.
I have manually given water to make sure she’s drinking (which I don’t think she’s been doing herself) and I haven’t seen her actually eat only peck at the food.
I’m really worried and don’t want to lose a little chick like this. I’m not sure if I should remove her from the brood since she’s getting trampled on.
If anyone has some advice or a similar situation please comment.
Ps. This is her (Lois) and is currently asleep under my heated blanket
View attachment 3410474

Not normal. Polish chicks are notoriously fragile. I nearly lost one who was acting similarly last year. I ended up having to separate her and nurse her pretty intensively.

She needs to be hydrated. Try electrolytes like Sav-a-Chik or even sugar water. You can try dipping her beak in it or using your pinky to place drops next to her beak so they roll into her mouth. I'd also try doing the same with a drop of Nutridrench. And maybe feed her egg yolk the same way. And make sure she's warm enough. I'd repeat every hour or so until she starts perking up and eating/drinking normally.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

If she's getting trampled, then put her in her own space with heat, food and water.

I'd give her 2-3drops of Poultry Nutri-Drench twice a day. Work on getting fluids into her, then offer a small amount of wet mushy feed.

Is she pooping? What's that like?
Vent is clear and not pasted over?
Can she walk and stand at all?

Sometimes chicks fail to thrive for some reason. Hopefully this is not the case and she will perk up with some TLC.

Lois is a cutie pie.

 

[Ashleys backyard farm]

If she's getting trampled, then put her in her own space with heat, food and water.

I'd give her 2-3drops of Poultry Nutri-Drench twice a day. Work on getting fluids into her, then offer a small amount of wet mushy feed.

Is she pooping? What's that like?
Vent is clear and not pasted over?
Can she walk and stand at all?

Sometimes chicks fail to thrive for some reason. Hopefully this is not the case and she will perk up with some TLC.

Lois is a cutie pie.

Thank you
I have separated her with her own little box although she has been going downhill fast. She just lays limp less in my hands now if she makes it through the night I will try the sugar water/ nutri drench and some mushy food tomorrow.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you
I have separated her with her own little box although she has been going downhill fast. She just lays limp less in my hands now if she makes it through the night I will try the sugar water/ nutri drench and some mushy food tomorrow.

I'm sorry she's failing.

I'd still try to get some fluids into her tonight and not wait until morning.
Dip a Qtip into some electrolytes, sugar water or even plain water. Tap the Qtip off a little, then press it lightly to the side of her beak so one drop of water comes off onto the edge of her beak. See if she will take it in, she'll make a motion with her beak if she does. Only give one drop at a time and see that she swallows and breaths before giving another drop.
Tiny chicks can aspirate easily, so giving a drop at a time with a qtip can lessen the risk.

 

[Ashleys backyard farm]

Ok so it’s almost midnight where I live and I couldn’t go to bed,
I made one last trip to the brooder to check on Lois. She has passed I have had my cry and have made peace with it and now my next question is…
Are my other chicks going to be ok? I have 9 left (Australorp, Easter eggers, Delaware, blue andalusians, and barred rocks) and now I’m concerned. Is there something Lois could have passed on or was it just that she was one of the weaker chicks? Or her breed?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry that she didn't make it.

Tiny chicks like that can often just fail to thrive.
She may have just been weaker, had a developmental issue or ? It's just guesses really.

If all your other chicks are active, eating/drinking, pooping and seem to be thriving well, then I wouldn't be concerned at this point that she died from something contagious.

 

[Ashleys backyard farm]

I'm sorry that she didn't make it.

Tiny chicks like that can often just fail to thrive.
She may have just been weaker, had a developmental issue or ? It's just guesses really.

If all your other chicks are active, eating/drinking, pooping and seem to be thriving well, then I wouldn't be concerned at this point that she died from something contagious.

Thank you I really appreciate your help. I have been reading about polish chickens

I'm sorry that she didn't make it.

Tiny chicks like that can often just fail to thrive.
She may have just been weaker, had a developmental issue or ? It's just guesses really.

If all your other chicks are active, eating/drinking, pooping and seem to be thriving well, then I wouldn't be concerned at this point that she died from something contagious.

thank you I really appreciate your help. This experience has taught me a lot. I also just read what someone else wrote…they said polish chickens don’t have a high survival rate and 95% of their hatchlings didn’t make it, which then a lot of others chimed in and said their polish didn’t make it either.
I was starting to worry thinking I did something wrong even though I strive to do everything top notch for my chickens. I’m going to have to do some more research on polish chickens now. It’s a breed I was hoping to add to my flock.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Thank you I really appreciate your help. I have been reading about polish chickens

thank you I really appreciate your help. This experience has taught me a lot. I also just read what someone else wrote…they said polish chickens don’t have a high survival rate and 95% of their hatchlings didn’t make it, which then a lot of others chimed in and said their polish didn’t make it either.
I was starting to worry thinking I did something wrong even though I strive to do everything top notch for my chickens. I’m going to have to do some more research on polish chickens now. It’s a breed I was hoping to add to my flock.

I'm so sorry she didn't make it.


If you have your heart set on Polish, you might be able to find a breeder near you. Shipping is very hard on them.

 

[Nero70002]

Hello, I’ve been having issues with my chicks, I think they’re sick. There were 10 and they are around four days old, and two days ago we found one very lethargic in their chick box. We picked her up, put her on a heated blanket while watching her and ordered sav-a-chick. The first was a black silkie and she kept her eyes closed and it didn’t really seem like she could stand. She had weird head spasms and seemed very weak. We fed her some sav-a-chick and she passed away about an hour after we took her out. The next day we woke up to find a second chick (a buff Orpington) that kept her eyes closed and looked tired while the other chicks were running around. We took her and and did the same thing as the other chick. Whenever we tried to give her the sav-a-chick with a syringe she’d roll her head around weirdly or turn it too far to the side. She’d move her head more (but I don’t think it was good) when we gave her the water. After around an hour or two she passed away and opened her eyes before she did like the first one. Later in the day after we came back home we checked the box to see that one of the “Americanas” looked a little tired. I was suspicious so I took her out and put her on the electric blanket and fed her some sav-a-chick just in case. She mostly kept her eyes closed but she also seemed to not like the sav-a-chick and kept turning her head to the side weirdly. We got home at around 10-11 and this last chick opened her eyes more often than the other 2. She passed away at around 2:30 AM. Now today the last 7 chicks keep twitching their heads. We think it might be Crazy Chick Disease, Avian Encephalomyelitis, or Encephalomalacia. I’m scared they might all die, and we’re also planning to get three ducklings around March 20. Any suggestions?
Here’s how the Buff Orpington was laying when she wasn’t doing the head thing.