Help please! 3-day-old chick fell in water

[MIChickandGuinea]

A tiny tiny tiny tiny bantam chick (the smallest in our group by far) seems to have fallen into the waterer and was very wet and chilled by the time we woke up this morning. It’s alive and I have done my best to dry and warm it. But it’s very very sleepy, and is keeping its little feet curled in a strange way. Anything I can do to help save this baby?

 

[azygous]

Do you have a hair blow dryer? Set the dryer on the lowest setting and place the chick on its back in a soft cloth such as polartec and blow warm air on its belly. That's where most of the blood is on a chicken and it will warm more quickly.

Get a heating pad and fold it into the warm pad like a taco.

I need to warn you your chick may die if it aspirated any of the water.

 

[Acre4Me]

Hoping all ends well. You can use marbles (or small clean rocks) in your open waterer to prevent chicks from getting immersed.

Here are some day old quail chicks (very tiny) with marble in their water:

 

[MIChickandGuinea]

Oh, what a good idea. I did blow dry and use a heating pad, but baby still looks kind of rough. We put water at the corners of its beak and it drank readily. Mixed a little yogurt in water and gave a couple drops of that... now under the heat lamp with its buddies ... we shall see.

A handful of the babies have crusty feathers at their butts. I think the pen got cooler than 95 overnight. A new waterer I bought apparently malfunctioned and soaked the bedding. I didn’t realize that until I had gotten past the immediate wet chick crisis. Anything I can do about crusty butts?

Hoping all ends well. You can use marbles (or small clean rocks) in your open waterer to prevent chicks from getting immersed.

Here are some day old quail chicks (very tiny) with marble in their water:


View attachment 1317269

 

[azygous]

Clean the butts with a Q-tip soaked in warm coconut oil. It removes the soil without chilling the chick and leaves an oily residue that can help prevent further poop buildup.

Watch these pasty butt chicks carefully for signs of lethargy. That signifies the poop is backing up and causing constipation, a common ailment that kills chicks quickly before you notice what's happening.

If you notice those symptoms, get a teaspoon of solid coconut oil into the chick ASAP.

 

[WVduckchick]

Nutridrench is also very good for weak chicks. It provides a quick vitamin boost to the bloodstream.

 

[MIChickandGuinea]

Clean the butts with a Q-tip soaked in warm coconut oil. It removes the soil without chilling the chick and leaves an oily residue that can help prevent further poop buildup.

Watch these pasty butt chicks carefully for signs of lethargy. That signifies the poop is backing up and causing constipation, a common ailment that kills chicks quickly before you notice what's happening.

If you notice those symptoms, get a teaspoon of solid coconut oil into the chick ASAP.

OK - I will do this. Thanks for the advice. We have had lots of chicks before, but never any of these adventures!! Is it a little harder with bantams because they're SO tiny? This is our first time with bantams.

 

[MIChickandGuinea]

Nutridrench is also very good for weak chicks. It provides a quick vitamin boost to the bloodstream.

I have nutridrench. How do I administer it to them? For our big girls, I just doctor the whole coop's water supply. But that doesn't guarantee that this particular baby will get any if it's struggling...

 

[WVduckchick]

I have nutridrench. How do I administer it to them? For our big girls, I just doctor the whole coop's water supply. But that doesn't guarantee that this particular baby will get any if it's struggling...

I wipe a bit from the dropper onto my finger, then wipe it on the side of the chick's beak. Then I usually dip the same finger in water and drip on the beak, then several drops of clear water.

 

[Acre4Me]

For pasty butt, we got the water running at a warm temp then carefully stuck only their rear ends in the running water and worked out the poopy bits and then wrapped them in a paper towel to dry them, and held them under the heat lamp for a couple of minutes to make sure they warmed up. I've seen other will use a small bowl with warm water and let them soak a bit and work out the poop - but still need to dry them.

For nutri drench, we gave them one drop then used a q-tip soaked in water to make sure they also got some water in their mouths. we only had to dose a couple of weak chicks 1 or 2x and they perked up well.