Help! This chick is dying! I don't know what to do!

[3riverschick]

@azygous A sickness??

 

[Peacechick713]

It's not choking.

No, I am not sure, it cannot walk on the leg. it's purplish around the join it cannot move its upper thigh. The wing on the same side is limp too. What kind of neurological issue are you referring to?

 

[Clarity1210]

I'm afraid I didn't have luck with our two chicks that became ailing in their first 2 weeks last year. One that showed a will to live we nursed and hand fed for maybe 2 weeks, but it became evident she wasn't going to be able to run about normally or stand to feed herself independently so we sadly put her to sleep. I know you're hoping for a more favorable outcome. You'll probably hear from others with a wider range of experiences. Best of luck.

 

[pvaldes]

Being the less strong, were probably pecked by other members of the flock. Keep it isolated and warm and feed them a good starter diet

Chicks are resilient creatures, can be bring to live again with a little care.

 

[Peacechick713]

I'm afraid I didn't have luck with our two chicks that became ailing in their first 2 weeks last year. One that showed a will to live we nursed and hand fed for maybe 2 weeks, but it became evident she wasn't going to be able to run about normally or stand to feed herself independently so we sadly put her to sleep. I know you're hoping for a more favourable outcome. You'll probably hear from others with a wider range of experiences. Best of luck.

Thanks, I do hope that it doesn't come to that, sorry for your loss.

Pecked by other members of the flock probably. Keep it isolated and warm

Most of the flock is only 3 days old, We have a quarateen section in the pen, I can move it closer to the heat lamp if you think that would help.

 

[azygous]

Common reasons for high mortality rate in the first week can be due to improper heating, too hot or too cool, too many chicks for the brooder space that prevents weaker chicks from getting to the heat, thus chilling, and contaminated water.

By the second week, coccidiosis could be the cause since incubation is a bit over a week. And constipation rounds out the common causes of death.

You don't say how many chicks you have, but there will be a small number of failure-to thrive (genetic abnormalities) that won't be able to eat and survive.

A chick can often be saved if you catch it while it's still able to swallow. Once a chick lies down and loses consciousness, it's beyond help. Luke warm sugar water can revive a chick. If you have Poultry Nutri-drench, it's an emergency formula that can often turn a chick around.

 

[pvaldes]

If there aren't adult chicken around, could be a genetic problem, a poor diet, lacking vitamins, or a disease. Cold chicken are distressed and very vocal about it. Keep it warm but ready to react to signs of stress if the point is too hot or too cold

 

[Peacechick713]

Common reasons for high mortality rate in the first week can be due to improper heating, too hot or too cool, too many chicks for the brooder space that prevents weaker chicks from getting to the heat, thus chilling, and contaminated water.

By the second week, coccidiosis could be the cause since incubation is a bit over a week. And constipation rounds out the common causes of death.

You don't say how many chicks you have, but there will be a small number of failure-to thrive (genetic abnormalities) that won't be able to eat and survive.

A chick can often be saved if you catch it while it's still able to swallow. Once a chick lies down and loses consciousness, it's beyond help. Luke warm sugar water can revive a chick. If you have Poultry Nutri-drench, it's an emergency formula that can often turn a chick around.

Thank you! Looking at this it's most likely the number of chicks we have, our pen is about 32" by 40" plus feed, water, and a small sectioned off place. In there we have about 105 chicks. They were outside in a pen that is about 10ft by 5ft but we had a really nasty, windy, and cold storm hit. With the help of some friends, we took what was about 110 chicks inside the temperature for the outside pen red about 69F It's warmer inside. Since then we've lost 3 chicks inside, and 4 outside. I'll look to see if I can get the sugar water. My injured chicks are still able to breathe and swallow but they're quite weak. I'm moved them closer to the heat lamp.

If there aren't adult chicken around, could be a poor diet lacking vitamis or a disease. Cold chicken are distressed and very vocal about it. Keep it warm but ready to react to signs of stress if the point is too hot or too cold

There are no chicks/ chickens older than one week in the pen. They have access to clean water and medicated feed. It may be the shock of the move that's killing them, that was two nights ago.

 

[Eggcessive]

Poultry NutriDrench, Poultry Cell, or chick electrolytes with vitmamins are helpful to use with a weak chick. Leg problems or injuries can be common. Make sure that your bedding is non-slick and clean/dry.

It sounds like you need more room in the temporary brooder. With overcrowding, they can easily be trampled , injured, or smothered. A large box can be used as a temporary brooder. You can use a bath tub, a closet, or spare room as a temporary brooder. I take 4 foot panels 2 feet wide, and attach them with screws. Then they can be taken apart when not needed.

A round brooder made with cardboard attched in a circlecan prevent chicks from being caught in corners.
Hopefully younwill be able to put your chicks back where they were kept before soon or use a heat source there to warm the brooder. I keep a small ceramic heater that can be securly attached to the wall for that purpose.

Good luck and sorry for your losses.

 

[azygous]

I think you've identified the cause of mortality as overcrowding. It can be directly responsible for injury and death. For chicks only a few days out of the egg, even a little bit of chilling can hammer the little things. If caught soon enough while a chick can still hold its head up and swallow, warm sugar water is the best, easiest, quickest first aid to revive a chick, followed up with special feeding and vitamin therapy.

If you strongly suspect a chick has suffered chilling, a warm hair dryer focused on the chick's underparts where the maximum blood flow is located, can often reheat a chilled chick quickly and revive it.

You have an uphill battle with that many chicks, though. It's much more difficult to identify chicks with issues early enough to do any good when you have so many. When the numbers are so prohibitive to individual attention, sometimes you just need to accept that you may end up with a few that won't survive, as heart breaking as it can be.