Help. Why is he doing this and what do I do?

[TonkaTrucker]

I don’t know how to post videos on this forum so I put it on YouTube.
They’re 3 weeks old, eating crumble, have water and heat, and they’re on SPF pellets. I don’t like shavings for dust and stink.
I noticed the noise when I came home from work, found out who it was and have been sitting with him.

He also seems to be “sneezing” sometimes? Maybe it’s a tiny spasm? I’m not sure. He doesn’t have pasty bum, but we did have a chick die today, too. No obvious reason for that,and it wasn’t making these noises that we noticed... I assume it’s something respiratory, but it’s not humid or dusty in their brooder. It has good air circulation.

 

[TonkaTrucker]

Got the “sneeze” thing on video.

 

[KrystinaMayKennedy]

I had one with a similar behavior the 2nd night I had her. I forced her to drink water with some sugar and gave her a scrambled egg to get some protein in her. It worked for me.
Good luck!!

 

[cocoafromspain]

With my sick chicks, I usually mix plain yogurt with some egg yolk and medicated chick feed (covering our bases) and feed them through a syringe. It's chick season for me, and I had one with similar problems that was able to recover!! Keep us updated!

 

[HeatherKellyB]

@Wyorp Rock @azygous

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Poor little thing!

Have you seen the chick poop?
Look inside the beak - any blockage, food stuck, etc.?

I'm not familiar with the bedding you are using - is it aromatic? Have you successfully used it with chicks before?

 

[TonkaTrucker]

I had one with a similar behavior the 2nd night I had her. I forced her to drink water with some sugar and gave her a scrambled egg to get some protein in her. It worked for me.
Good luck!!

Force feeding is definitely not as easy in a chicken as it is in a dog! I got a couple drops of 1:4 sugar to water in him and a tiny bit of egg... I think...

 

[TonkaTrucker]

With my sick chicks, I usually mix plain yogurt with some egg yolk and medicated chick feed (covering our bases) and feed them through a syringe. It's chick season for me, and I had one with similar problems that was able to recover!! Keep us updated!

I’ll have to try and find a syringe!

 

[azygous]

As the others have mentioned, it's important to keep this little one's energy up by frequent special feeding and warm sugar water. It helps to dip the beak into the sugar water to get it to drink or dribble some on the side of the beak and it will suck it in.

It does appear it is suffering from respiratory distress. It might also be constipated from the frequent chirps. Have you watched it try to poop? If not, stand by after it eats and watch what it does when it poops.

If the chick seems to ramp up the chirping and it appears it's straining to poop, it's constipated and will need oil treatment. I recommend coconut oil slightly chilled and the shave off small pieces and pry the beak open and slip them in, close the beak so it swallows, repeat until you get about half a teaspoon of oil into it.

As @Wyorp Rock mentioned, if the brooder bedding you're using has an aroma, the fumes may be causing respiratory distress.

 

[TonkaTrucker]

Poor little thing!

Have you seen the chick poop?
Look inside the beak - any blockage, food stuck, etc.?

I'm not familiar with the bedding you are using - is it aromatic? Have you successfully used it with chicks before?

Haven’t seen him poop, yet. Had him on my lap for a while He’s super tired, tough fighting to get some food in his mouth hasn’t helped his energy.

I’ve used the pellets with two other clutches without issue.