Help...I have a sick little chickie :(

[MTCoop]

Hi, I am a chicken newbie. We received 19 day old chicks last Tuesday. Everyone did great until Friday - we lost one late Friday night. We think this was due to stress as we had some friends over with small children and they got handled a lot The kids were gentle and the chicks are used to getting some human contact, but maybe we overdid it that day. Felt so sad. Then, everyone seemed fine until my son went to check on them yesterday morning and one was dead. He called them and all came over except for this one. He touched it and sadly she was gone. Now, last night my husband went out and one was real lethargic. It was just laying there and everyone else was running all over her. He put her in a separate container, gave her heat, water and food. We thought she wouldn't last the night. Well, I am happy to report that she is still alive but sadly she doesn't seem to have too much energy. She is still in her own little brooder and she is drinking, eating and pooping. Just not too lively.
Any suggestions?? I really don't want to lose any more. Can anyone give me some advice? Thanks in advance. I feel like I am practically living on this website as it has such great info on it!

 

[Eggcessive]

Were the chicks shipped to you or did you pick them up? They are probably still suffering from shipping stress. Whenever there are weak chicks I use SaveAChick vitamins/electrolytes or make homemade electrolytes for them. In a pinch 1 tsp sugar per cup of water will do. Dip the chick's beak into the water several times an hour. Make sure they are warm, but have a cooler spot to get into. Sorry for your loss, and I hope the rest do well. This website is pretty addicting--be sure to check out the learning center, top of page..

HOMEMADE ELECTROLYTE SOLUTION
1/2 teaspoon salt substitute*
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon table salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 gallon water
*Salt substitute is readily available in most grocery stores in the spice aisle near the salt, but if you do not have it, don't worry, the solution will still have most of the benefits intended to combat heat stress.

 

[MTCoop]

Thank you for the recipe. They were shipped to us and did fine until the last few days. I feel like we are doing something wrong. All the others seem fine but this one was ok too until last night. Thank you so much for your advice

 

[MTCoop]

Just lost her

 

[Eggcessive]

You're welcome. Sometimes it takes up to a week or so for the stress to cause death, so hopefully you won't see any more. This is common with shipped chicks--are the dying chicks the same breed or different? I've read here where certain breeds out of a batch will die, and that would point to weak parent stock, but one never knows what the chicks go through in the mail--unheated rooms or overheated trucks. I have received shipped chicks twice with no deaths luckily, and I always chose a hatchery close enough to just take 1 day to ship.

 

[MTCoop]

Right now everyone looks pretty much the same and being new at this I cannot tell if they have all been the same breed or not. Thank you for you advice and kind words. I hope you are right and that the rest of them will make it.

 

[love2grinchicke]

Good luck! When I got shipped chicks earlier this year, one was DOA. Check their rear ends for pasty butt.