Help! Unresponsive chick

Elliebeans

Songster
Aug 5, 2019
141
267
116
Tasmania, Australia
I found one of my nearly 3 week old silkie chicks lying in the corner of the brooder. It's barely alive and unresponsive and floppy. The beak is a little twisted now too when it wasn't before. I've given it some poly aid plus mixed with water and have it wrapped up in front of a heater. No signs of any wounds or feather loss. Can anyone give me any advice? The other chicks all seem healthy.
 
Here are some photos
 

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Sometimes there’s just something fatally wrong with them. It’s not that common but also not that unusual at all to occasionally find a dead chick. That’s why hatcheries often send extras.

You should check the vent (just inward from the tip of the tail) and make sure it doesn’t have a poop plug built up in there. If it does you’ll need to soak it with warm water and gently pick it away until it’s clean & clear. Best check the others too, while you’re at it.
 
Sometimes there’s just something fatally wrong with them. It’s not that common but also not that unusual at all to occasionally find a dead chick. That’s why hatcheries often send extras.

You should check the vent (just inward from the tip of the tail) and make sure it doesn’t have a poop plug built up in there. If it does you’ll need to soak it with warm water and gently pick it away until it’s clean & clear. Best check the others too, while you’re at it.
Thank you for your help. Unfortunately the little one died since I last posted. I'd checked the vent when I pulled it out as I had dealt with some stuck poop on it when it was a few days old (No issues since then though) but it was clear and clean. Poor little thing.
 
Any signs of bloody droppings in their brooder? Coccidiosis can take them down pretty quick at that age. I would pick up some Corid if you don't have any - asap -- and treating the remaining chicks as this one may have just been affected faster than the others. No real down side to treating them. Any time I've had it happen one always seems to weaken first while the others look just fine. Even if you keep things as clean as humanly possible, it can still happen.

https://the-chicken-chick.com/coccidiosis-what-backyard-chicken/
 

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