HELP - Runt is struggling. UPDATE: Camille and Little Dot

[Yanna]

Well, Camille is making some small headway.

I've determined that she needs her toes splinted to help with her balance - I've seen mention of it here somewhere but if anyone knows how it's done, I'd be grateful for the information.

I'm feeding her sugar water from a syringe to give her a little burst of energy (I don't have chick vitamins) and then she eats yogurt/chick feed glop from a spoon. She's able to walk around the brooder a bit but mostly she sits still and sleeps. When someone bumps her, she does a somersault (most of the time she lands right side up).

The trick will be to get her feet working properly so that she can balance and to not only keep her in a steady state but to help her actually gain weight and grow. She's absolutely tiny next to the others and they're gulping as much feed as they can fit into their beaks on a constant basis.

I'm not sure how often I ought to help her eat/drink but I'm hoping to get enough into her tonight so that I can actually get some sleep.

Thanks for the encouragement!

 

[needmorechickens!]

I hope Camille is doing well this morning

.
She sounds like a little sweetie.
~Rebecca

 

[Yanna]

Well, Camille is turning into quite the little eater (still hand fed) and is now catching up with everyone else in terms of size. I haven't been brave enough to address her foot splints yet but will need to do that soon.

I realized today that one of her flock mates is smaller than she is. This is a little buff chick I've named Dot (because her body is about the size of her head) and she wants no part of being hand fed. When I try separating these two from the rest, they cry their heads off and that only exhausts their limited energy reserves, so I'm resigned to keeping them in with the others.

I'm all out of yogurt, so Dot hasn't had the Gold Standard House Blend for Wayward Chicks (raw honey, yogurt and chick starter) but tomorrow I will buy some and make a point of stimulating her appetite as best I can. She certainly has a nice loud peep so I'm not TOO worried but it's not good to see her so far behind in growth.