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

[azygous]

Yes, bantams lack body mass and that's a big liability. They are much more easily chilled and lose body heat much faster.

Two ways to easily administer Nutri-drench. For normal chicks, just mix a quarter teaspoon in a quart of tepid water and offer that as the sole water source.

For a sick chick, I place two drops of undiluted Nutridrench in the palm of my hand and dip the chick's beak in it. This stimulates the chick to swallow it and pretty soon, after repeated dips, the chick has consumed a dose of Nutri-drench. Do this once a day until the chick catches up.

 

[MIChickandGuinea]

Baby is up and around, eating and drinking. I know we’re still not out of the woods, but he’s trying!!!

 

[MIChickandGuinea]

Baby made it through the night and seems as normal as any of the other chicks, in terms of activity and time spent at the feeder and waterer. He's just still SO tiny, and I wonder if he's a failure to thrive bird to begin with - that he fell into the water because he's small/weak, not that he's small/weak because of the water event. I never see his crop looking full like I do the other birds. He's at the feeder pecking, but I'm not convinced that he is big enough to eat the crumbles (I have smashed some up finer just in case). Time will tell... I'm pulling for him because he's just SO adorable. (And I added some glass beads to the water trough to hopefully prevent any further adventures).

 

[Acre4Me]

Baby made it through the night and seems as normal as any of the other chicks, in terms of activity and time spent at the feeder and waterer. He's just still SO tiny, and I wonder if he's a failure to thrive bird to begin with - that he fell into the water because he's small/weak, not that he's small/weak because of the water event. I never see his crop looking full like I do the other birds. He's at the feeder pecking, but I'm not convinced that he is big enough to eat the crumbles (I have smashed some up finer just in case). Time will tell... I'm pulling for him because he's just SO adorable. (And I added some glass beads to the water trough to hopefully prevent any further adventures).

good to hear he is doing better. Also, in the first few days, chicks tend to fall asleep on their feet or really anywhere at times. Maybe he just fell asleep while drinking some water and that is what happened. When we had baby quail, they were too small for any crumbles, so I had to grind their feed up - I used a blender "smoothie" container.

 

[MIChickandGuinea]

My daughter has decided that this tiny chick should be named Ophelia because of the whole near-drowning thing. Also, that’s a teaspoon, not a soup spoon. Hard to believe that’s an entire bird. Easy to see how someone so small could fall into the water trough.

 

[gator75]

Holy cow that's a small chicken. Bet the little thing ends up ruling the roost.

 

[MIChickandGuinea]

Yes, bantams lack body mass and that's a big liability. They are much more easily chilled and lose body heat much faster.

Two ways to easily administer Nutri-drench. For normal chicks, just mix a quarter teaspoon in a quart of tepid water and offer that as the sole water source.

For a sick chick, I place two drops of undiluted Nutridrench in the palm of my hand and dip the chick's beak in it. This stimulates the chick to swallow it and pretty soon, after repeated dips, the chick has consumed a dose of Nutri-drench. Do this once a day until the chick catches up.

I am fighting pasty butt with one chick after another in this group. I am being super-careful with the temperature in their cage, I empty and wash and refill their waterer twice each day (with tepid water so they're not drinking cold water and getting chilled) and I see them all up, active, eating and drinking. But every day so far I have had 2-3 birds (not always the same ones either) getting crusty/pasty butts. I have been cleaning with a damp paper towel and applying some coconut oil at the vent and on the surrounding feathers, as recommended by someone on this board. I have also added NutriDrench to the waterer. Anything else I can do to help these super-tiny babies come along? They're about a week old now, and I thought they should be getting less fragile ...!!

 

[Acre4Me]

We fought pasty butt for about 10 days, however it was only 2-4 at any time and then it was only one breed that kept getting it for the last few days of the pasty butt period. We adjusted the heat plate and watched them since the problem can be due to too hot or too cold, but they seemed good. Some breeds never got pasty butt their entire young lives. I would just run the little butts under warm water and work out the poop, which was quicker for me and birds seemed to do well with that method. Pat dry, wrap in cloth while transporting back to brooder and place under heat source to make sure they warmed up. Glad that stage is done. Good luck to you.

 

[MIChickandGuinea]

We fought pasty butt for about 10 days, however it was only 2-4 at any time and then it was only one breed that kept getting it for the last few days of the pasty butt period. We adjusted the heat plate and watched them since the problem can be due to too hot or too cold, but they seemed good. Some breeds never got pasty butt their entire young lives. I would just run the little butts under warm water and work out the poop, which was quicker for me and birds seemed to do well with that method. Pat dry, wrap in cloth while transporting back to brooder and place under heat source to make sure they warmed up. Glad that stage is done. Good luck to you.

Well, it's good to know I'm not the only one having this struggle. I am fairly new to chicks, though I raised two groups of layers last spring and a whole flock of guinea keets, and didn't have ANY issues with them (beginner's luck, I think!). I will just keep on watching these adorable miniatures carefully!!

 

[azygous]

While pasty butt is a "bug" of the first couple weeks with chicks and will soon pass, there are things you can do to help prevent it.

As @Acre4Me pointed out, adjusting the heat can go a long way toward helping. On the flip side of that would be to increase your brooder space so that chicks, after absorbing more heat than they need, can find cooler space in which to shed it.

Fermenting the chick feed can also help. It's actually as easy as putting dry feed into a juice pitcher and covering it with warm water and a tiny splash of ACV to kick start the ferment. Stir a few times a day and you will have a nice fragrant batch of FF in just a couple days. Add more dry crumbles as the supply gets low and water to bring it to the consistency of stiff oatmeal.

I feed in tiny dishes so the chicks don't try to go swimming in it. Those little icing cans that come with those tubes of breakfast sweet rolls are perfect when glued to a heavy base.