helppp! baby chick with neurological problem?? =/

[chickabator]

my chick was not like this until saturday it is 2 weeks almost 3 weeks old now but looks like it is a week old it is alot and i mean alot smaller than the other chicks it did not have a difficlut time hatching. it was fine and up and running around the next day . I just don't understand it. I have not culled yet I am still doctoring it. it is still in the brooder by itself. I am trying everything to nurse it back to health. trust me dh is aggrivated cause I won't let him cull it.

 

[scbatz33]

chickabator,
Mine too. My chick is about 5 weeks old and hatched just fine. she is the same size and was the same activity level as the hatch mates. I have separated her. She is getting vit E and B in her water and I got the PolyVit stuff this morning. She isn't sitting on her head all the time today, but she still isn't right. I'm hoping that the supplements will help.

I just don't understand how I have a barn full of various aged babies who all eat the same thing yet this one is "deficient" in vitamins. If this is the case, wouldn't that mean she isn't processing her food properly and thus I really should cull her? After all, isn't her inability to absorb vit and min a biological issue and thus could be passed on? I have yet to get a definitive answer to this question. Even if she fully recovers from this problem, wouldn't the fact that she has the issue make her a bad choice for breeding?

 

[chickabator]

That is the same situation that I am in. I am trying to build my flocks up . and I want the healthiest chickens I can get. I hatched these out from dipsydoodledoo's ameraucana's the rest are doing wonderful but this one is just breaking my heart.

 

[chickabator]

My chick died this afternoon. right in my hand, I tried so hard to get it better but nothing and I mean nothing helped. I am soooo sad tonight

 

[NotTheMomma]

Oh chickabator, I'm so very sorry! HUGS AND THANKS for doing what you could. Sometimes no matter what we do, it just doesn't seem like it was enough, and we lose them.

My little guy or gal, Eeyore, is the same. Really looking at her, you wouldn't realize that something is wrong, other than appearing to have a short neck. But when you move those feathers back, the Z neck is still there. I have 31 chicks, from almost 9 weeks to 4 weeks, and none of the others are affected. I can't explain it either. Everything I read says vitamin defiency of one kind or another, but adding those still didn't improve her. I even started giving higher protein feed to see if that would do anything. So far, just the same.

I contacted VA TECH POULTRY dept and was told it could have been injury from vaccination, but I don't even know if they were vaccinated or not! It came from Mt Healthy, but I bought it at a local feed store, so no idea.

Eeyore continues to eat, drink, roost, fly, walk around, etc just like a normal chick. They only real difference I've noticed it lots of scratching at the ear. So I'm beginning to wonder if there is a tumor or infection in the ear, or that area that is causing this. I've going to attempt putting some antibiotic ear drops in that ear twice a day and see if it helps. Figure it can't hurt, and nothing else is helping....

 

[chickabator]

my little midnight died this afternoon around 1:30 pm I came in the house to chech on it and picked it up and it died right in my hand. the little thing last night ate and ate but its little craw was empty it would not drink and when I tried to give it water it would just spit it back out. I gave poly vi sol with out iron it just wouldnt get any better . it was like it was eating but my dd said she thinks it was just pecking at the food and not getting any down. I don't know. I am so sad, I loved that little baby. I am setting here right now crying as I type. I just don't understand what went wrong with it. I have never had one do this before. I have had them die from cocci, and have had to put babies down that their yolk sack was not absorbed and could not walk and their intestines came out but never one like this.

 

[Far North Queenslander]

The symptoms you describe are classic signs of a vitamin E deficiency. It affects the brain and will cause permanent brain damage if left too long. It can also result in haemorrhages.

The standard treatment is dosing with Vitamin E and Selenium. The underlying cause can be poor levels in the breeding parents or a lack of Vit E and Selenium in the diet.

If the parents are the problem most chicks will quickly show symptoms. If the chicks are being fed a commercial feed and it is only showing up in one or two birds then it is often a by-product of the real problem which is can be a gastro-intestinal infection. The chicks cannot absorb Vitamin E or Selenium, so although they are eating heaps they are unable to gain any nutritional benefit from it.

When dosing with vitamins, consider any underlying triggers and add something like nilstat and Lactobacillus acidophilus strain probiotic (or yoghurt).

 

[chickabator]

I gave the yogart, I gave poly vi sol i forced fed water gave boiled egg, I gave it chick starter made into mash, I tried to force feed and everything it would pick and pick at the food but still its crawl would be empty yesterday morning midnight would not get up just laid there, I tried everything possiable. yesterday afternoon I came to check on it and picked it up in my hand and midnight died right there in my hand. I did try.

 

[Far North Queenslander]

Sorry to hear it chickabator

. By the time most people twig to what it is the first time, it's usually too late despite their best efforts. At least by treating the others with a preventative dose it won't get any worse.

 

[love_my_jerseys]

I'm sorry to hear about your chick

One of my Jerseys had crookneck when she was about 2 months old. She ended up living and is doing fine.

If it ever happens to you again (which I hope it doesn't) what I did was bring my chicken inside and made her a nice box to rest in. For a few minutes a few times a day I would hold her head up so her neck would be in the normal position and I would have my dad hold a small dish of food mixed with water to her beak and she would eat it. I bought some Rooster Booster to mix a little into the food and water. After a week or so she was able to lift her head on her own and would jump out of the box to rest on my shoulder (and peck my ear), and a few days later I was able to put her back with the others.