Help! My Baby chick it acting weird.

[Chickyhicky]

My Baby chick what has hatched today has been..Not acting like a chick. At 4 is when it hatched (PM) and its now 10. All it's been doing it lying around, cheeping, and rolling. When I pick it up to see if it could stand all it did was let its legs dangle and didnt even lift its neck; but it cheep at me like it was angry. What is wrong with my chick, can someone help me please?!

 

[Chickyhicky]

Please, someone help, im very worried!

 

[Southernbelle]

Is the hatch done yet? I usually don't open the incubator until the hatch is done or you'll jepordize all the other eggs.

Hatching is hard work for the chick and it's not uncommon for a chick to need to rest for a while after hatching. I would just leave it alone. After the hatch is done, if the chick is still not on it's feet you can check it for spraddle leg or give it a drop of vitamins.

Sometimes a chick hatches weak and there's not much you can do about it. I usually get one chick per hatch that tends to be unthrifty and doesn't grow like the others - whether I try to help it or not, it usually dies. Sometimes the weak ones die and it just happens and there's not much you can do about it.

 

[Chickyhicky]

So if its not better by tomorow I should let it die..?
I got this egg from my friend so I only have the 1, and this is my first time hatching an egg, so im kind of a noob to all this stuff. I really need to know whats going on with my little chick because im worried. It's neck seems dead almost, he/she never moves unless its like..dragged.

 

[ChooksChick]

The baby needs to be kept at 95-100*F even after hatching, and if it's cold it'll peep like mad- it will be very weak and roll around while learning how to control its muscles. If you haven't got a brooder together yet, put it back in the incubator. Don't put feed or water in with it until it has better control or it could drown.

Check this to see how to keep the baby, but if it's alone, it will be very unhappy. Put a small stuffed animal and a mirror in with it until you can get a day-old chick for it to be friends with.

Don't assume it will die if not stronger tomorrow- I have seen them weak and floppy until the 3rd day. Give it some time. It needs friends, though.

 

[kathyinmo]

Chicks lay around ALOT the first 3 days. That is normal. They are absorbing the yolk for nutrition, and are very tired after the work of hatching. Keep the chick warm, as ChooksChick suggested.

 

[Chickyhicky]

So how am I suposted to feed it. And I dont have a Broomer or that thing u mentioned, I hatched it with a heat lamp. So, all I need to do is wait for it to controle it's muscles better? Because its been stumbaling around and falling into things and sometimes it pants so I give it a little water and watch to make sure it's ok. I'll put a little stuffed animal in it untill I can get another baby...somehow.

 

[Chickyhicky]

Also, my chick isnt attached to anything. It's just a chick.

 

[Southernbelle]

Quote:
That's part of the problem. Chickens NEED other chickens - they're not comfortable outside of a flock and that loud cheeping you're hearing is the chick calling for it's mother or the other chicks in the hatch. I would start looking for another day-old chick right away.

 

[Southernbelle]

Quote:
Go to the top of the page under "Learning Center" and start reading about Baby Chick care - you need a heat lamp, chick food in a chick feeder and water in a chick waterer (they can drown in a dish of water), and a box or cage to keep them in.

Here's a comprehensive link on everything you need to know about chick care and it's written for beginners, so it's easy to follow:

http://www.mypetchicken.com/backyard-chickens/chicken-care/chapter-4-caring-for-baby-chicks.aspx