HELP PLEASE: 12 day old chick laying on her chest, head down, and eyes closed

[KayChickMom29]

I posted about this in the new members forum, but I wanted to post this in the most appropriate place for the full advice effect. I've never owned chicks or any birds before. I bought week old chicks (3 Rhode Island Reds and 3 ISA Browns) 5 days ago from Tractor Supply. Everyone was doing great until about yesterday when I noticed one of the chicks wasn't moving so much anymore and was just laid low in one spot. Today, she's much worse. Can't keep her eyes open, doesn't want to move, eat, or drink and breathing heavy. I did check to make sure her vent was pasted over. I also tried giving her a mixture of sugar water and some egg yolk tonight as I'd read elsewhere, but she seemed to spit it up after a while. I don't have any corid or save-a-chick, which I feel pretty silly for forgetting to get some when I got the chicks. The other girls are still doing great and are super active eaters and drinkers, darting about the place. I don't think she'll make it through the night, but if she does, I do want to try to save her even if it's futile. Aside from not having any medicine, I want to know if I'm doing something wrong?

They're eating un medicated starter/grower and have water and a heat lamp. I changed their bedding(pine shavings) 2 days ago and they get fresh water every day.

 

[CloneFly]

I posted about this in the new members forum, but I wanted to post this in the most appropriate place for the full advice effect. I've never owned chicks or any birds before. I bought week old chicks (3 Rhode Island Reds and 3 ISA Browns) 5 days ago from Tractor Supply. Everyone was doing great until about yesterday when I noticed one of the chicks wasn't moving so much anymore and was just laid low in one spot. Today, she's much worse. Can't keep her eyes open, doesn't want to move, eat, or drink and breathing heavy. I did check to make sure her vent was pasted over. I also tried giving her a mixture of sugar water and some egg yolk tonight as I'd read elsewhere, but she seemed to spit it up after a while. I don't have any corid or save-a-chick, which I feel pretty silly for forgetting to get some when I got the chicks. The other girls are still doing great and are super active eaters and drinkers, darting about the place. I don't think she'll make it through the night, but if she does, I do want to try to save her even if it's futile. Aside from not having any medicine, I want to know if I'm doing something wrong?

They're eating un medicated starter/grower and have water and a heat lamp. I changed their bedding(pine shavings) 2 days ago and they get fresh water every day.

I'm so sorry. Can you send a picture of the chick in question?

 

[KayChickMom29]

I'm so sorry. Can you send a picture of the chick in question?

This was her. The little yellow dot on the surface behind her is what her stool was looking like, super watery and yellow-white cloudy. She unfortunately died during the night

 

[Eggcessive]

If the chick is alive, I would try to get some homemade electrolytes in it. Add a tsp of sugar and a tiny pinch of salt to a cup of water, and stir it. Put the water to the chick’s beak and dip its beak several times and then repeat that as often as you can. Has there been any droppings and have you seen any dried droppings on the vent? Some chicks may suffer from shipping stress up to a week after delivery. I hope that you can save the chick.

Edited to say, sorry for your loss. I would get some Poultry NutriDrench or Poultry Cell from your feed store and watch for any others that may seem weak. It is okay to give each one 2 drops orally as a boost.

 

[KayChickMom29]

If the chick is alive, I would try to get some homemade electrolytes in it. Add a tsp of sugar and a tiny pinch of salt to a cup of water, and stir it. Put the water to the chick’s beak and dip its beak several times and then repeat that as often as you can. Has there been any droppings and have you seen any dried droppings on the vent? Some chicks may suffer from shipping stress up to a week after delivery. I hope that you can save the chick.

She died during the night. I didn't add salt to the sugar water mixture, but I did try giving her raw egg yolk. A couple of them have had a pasted over vent, that I cleaned, but she wasn't 1 of them.

 

[KayChickMom29]

I ran to TSC this morning and picked up some rooster booster, corid, and hydro-hen. So now my remaining 5 girls are drinking water with just the hydro hen but wasn't sure if they should get the other stuff as well. I keep reading horror stories of people losing ALL of their chicks and the 1 for me was enough.

 

[Eggcessive]

Coccidiosis is more common in chicks over 2-3 weeks, but if these chicks were hanging out at the feed store for almost a week, they might have been exposed. If you use Corid, then stop any vitamin/electrolyte solution that contains thiamine, which all would have. Corid works by mimicking thiamine (vitamin B1) so you would want to hold off on giving extra thiamine. But if it were me, I prefer a concentrated boost, such as Poultry NutriDrench or Poultry Cell, since it is given orally 2-3 drops, and then they drink plain water. Those have vitamins, electrolytes, and amino acids, and give a quick boost in a weak chick.

 

[KayChickMom29]

Coccidiosis is more common in chicks over 2-3 weeks, but if these chicks were hanging out at the feed store for almost a week, they might have been exposed. If you use Corid, then stop any vitamin/electrolyte solution that contains thiamine, which all would have. Corid works by mimicking thiamine (vitamin B1) so you would want to hold off on giving extra thiamine. But if it were me, I prefer a concentrated boost, such as Poultry NutriDrench or Poultry Cell, since it is given orally 2-3 drops, and then they drink plain water. Those have vitamins, electrolytes, and amino acids, and give a quick boost in a weak chick.

Very good to know!!! Right now, I just gave them water with the hydro-hen in it. Someone recommended a rotation between that, the rooster booster, and fresh water. How often would you give each chick that concentrated boost? I also don't know if trying too many different things too quickly harms them or not?? Aside from a bit of diarrhea from at least 1 of the chicks thay I've seen, they're all still super active and eat/drink a lot when not sleeping.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would read the label on the products you have. Here is one for Poultry NutriDrnech:
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...ZsDy-2PtRBZqgTHTFzyBOBPW50hBnDexoCOOcQAvD_BwE

When you have a new chick who is weak or suddenly failing, I prefer a concentrated vitamin electrolyte drop, such as Poultry NutriDrench or Poultry Cell. The only difference between those two is that PC has riboflavin, good for leg issues.

The products you have are electrolytes and probiotics ( Hyrdo Hen) and vitamins, electrolytes, and probiotics (Rooster Booster Vitamins with Lactobacillus.) The HydroHennis powder that is added to water, while the Rooster Booster V with E is added to food with a few drops of water or oil.

Since you are not seeing any problems right now in the others, the HydoHen would be fine for a couple of days. You don’t want to give electrolytes for more than a couple of days since they can cause diarrhea.

 

[KayChickMom29]

I would read the label on the products you have. Here is one for Poultry NutriDrnech:
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/nutri-drench-poultry-4-oz?cid=Search-Google-ANI_DYN-Poultry-Poultry DYN&utm_medium=Google&utm_source=Search&utm_campaign=ANI_DYN&utm_content=Poultry&utm_term=Poultry DYN&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAxaCvBhBaEiwAvsLmWD1HHBz1M02e0yUadEeXtUZsDy-2PtRBZqgTHTFzyBOBPW50hBnDexoCOOcQAvD_BwE

When you have a new chick who is weak or suddenly failing, I prefer a concentrated vitamin electrolyte drop, such as Poultry NutriDrench or Poultry Cell. The only difference between those two is that PC has riboflavin, good for leg issues.

The products you have are electrolytes and probiotics ( Hyrdo Hen) and vitamins, electrolytes, and probiotics (Rooster Booster Vitamins with Lactobacillus.) The HydroHennis powder that is added to water, while the Rooster Booster V with E is added to food with a few drops of water or oil.

Since you are not seeing any problems right now in the others, the HydoHen would be fine for a couple of days. You don’t want to give electrolytes for more than a couple of days since they can cause diarrhea.

Can those be used as a preventative as well? Or just when you notice a sick chick?