Help sick 5 1/2 week pullet!

[rlbrand]

First to try to give background. I am brand new to chicken keeping. I have 3 3 year old hens that were given to me last winter that live outside in my coop. Feeling confident after having my adult chickens for several months I purchased 15 day old black australorp chicks from purely poultry, and received 19 chicks. After 2 days I lost one chick to pasty butt I didn't recognize fast enough. Now my chickens are 5 1/2 weeks old, and have been seemingly very healthy, until today. I check on my chicks regularly, every couple hours.. Last time checking on my babies after a couple hours i found one that looked like it had been trampled and very lethargic. I reached in to pick her up and she hardly moved. All the other chicks as normal ran from my hand... I imediatly seperated her from rest and examined her.. I don't notice anything accept her toes are curled, she sits puffed up and won't eat or drink. I quickly fixed some electolite water for her and rest of babies. She won't drink it.. i dipped her beak in the water but doesn't seem to make any difference.. I also cooked an egg yolk to feed her thinking she would maybe eat that over feed and pep her up... she won't touch it..

I built a plywood brooder box 4'x4' by 2' tall. that the chicks have been in since arriving in mail. they have been outside once about a week or two ago for a couple hours.. I clean their coop every single morning at 6 am. I am currently using wood shavings from local wood worker, I try to be vigilant about using any bags of wood shavings that clearly have redish chips ( quite certain cedar). Now I orignally used those metal dishes to water that screw on to a pint jar... but i had to change/ clean it so often. a couple of weeks ago i switched to nipple waterers.. the issue i have with this is the chicks seem to only all drink at once.. if one bird started the nipple they all flock.. and at the same nipple... there are plently of nipples for them to use but they seem to all share one at once for the most part.. i have taken the waterer down to check and make sure other nipples are not clogged... a few days ago i noticed they all seemed to be less active and noisy.. I gave them their old waterers back (seemed like they dont drink much from nipples) and they all went nuts, they flocked around waterers and all sat and drank until both waters were almost empty... I figured I should just keep them on these waterers and just suck it up and clean more often... I should also note when cleaning the brooder the last couple days (before the waterer switch back off nipples) that they were hardly pooping.. It seemed almost pointless to clean their brooder but i did anyways.. this is what originally gave me the idea to give them their old waterer... Now this morning when cleaning (first whole day they had their old waters) i saw tons of poop like what i would expect but this time seems like alot of green poop... it really stood out...

Now from reading all i can find, im afraid symtoms sound most like Mareks because of lameness foot curl, and the green poop... but im confused of how my chickens could of even come in contact with this as they have never left my home or come into contact with any other birds... I was just going to introduce them to my old hens in the next week, but now worried they might be carrying a disease my old girls will catch..

please help! any advice would be much appreciated!!!

 

[emmaie892000]

The green poops were probably just because they all drank so much!
Most chicks from reputable sources are vaccinated against Mareks, maybe check to see if yours were if you want to be extra sure.
Now, about the sick one. You may have to water her with a dropper or something, if she won't take any water. Keep offering her food and water to see if she perks up at all. It's possible that she got bullied a bit, and will be okay now that she's separate. I don't have a lot of experience with very young chicks, but I'll hopefully bump this up so somebody else can help.

 

[rlbrand]

Thank you so much for your response!! My chickens were not vaccinated, I was told from others I didn't need to worry about it since my birds were never going to leave our farm or come into contact with any other fowl, maybe i should rethink this in the future... The sick chick appears to not be able to walk or stand.

Thanks again for your help!

 

[Eggcessive]

Try some vitamins in the water for poultry in case it is a vitamin B2 (riboflavin) deficiency.

 

[rlbrand]

Update:

She made it through the night.. she has kind of picked her self up and sitting more normal. (as opposed to laying more on her side) She looks as if she ate most of the cooked egg yolk. But she is sitting right where she has now pooped twice and she is just sitting in it..

 

[emmaie892000]

You'll want to gently clean her off then, poop on their skin or stuck to their vent still isn't good for them. Have you put any vitamins or electrolytes in her water yet? Also, see if she'll eat her regular food mixed with scrambled eggs.

 

[rlbrand]

yes she has electrolyte water available to her, and now is starting to eat her regular food. still not walking.. but perhaps she was just bullied and needs to regain strength?

 

[emmaie892000]

Hopefully! Keep us updated.

 

[rlbrand]

She is still laying down like in the picture. She will eat and drink when I put things in front of her, but have not seen her stand or walk at all in 3 days now... She cheeps when I pet her, but otherwise makes no noise. My other pullets are still in the brooder.. they are all acting normal and healthy.. i would like to move them out to the coop but worried if i should wait a few more days to make sure no one else turns up ill?
I am just so worried for her, she doesn't look well at all, but no idea what else i can do for her. She has electrolyte water, and her starter feed i mashed in a cooked egg yolk. I also sprinkled a little bit of grit on her food. Is there anything else i can do for her?? Shouldn't she show signs of getting better by now? or possibly an injury from pecking she has to recuperate from? How long could/should this take?

 

[rlbrand]

She is still alive. She still sleeps all day. Today she did start cheeping some, and i heard her moving around in her box, I ran to look and saw her just turned around, but in same location... she seems to be eating and drinking some on her own.. but still not standing or walking, and i have to pick her up to clean her butt off, she lays in her poop.. I also noticed her Keel bone is protruding quite a bit.. is this a sign of starving?