How do I give PolyViSol drops to 4 day old chick?

[hennypennysmom]

Hi all -

I wrote this weekend about a little limping chick. I read a lot this weekend, and saw some threads that recommended giving the baby PolyViSol (without iron). So I got some and tried it - but it was hard and I wasn't sure if I did it right - she got some in there (I was using a dropper), but did a lot of open mouth movements - like she was saying YUCK!

Do you chicken pros have a certain method you use to give the vitamins? Or do I just sort of squirt the drop near her beak?

We have seperated her out - we tried the bandaid splint method (incase it was spraddle leg), but that seemed to REALLY distress her a lot - and that foot just doesn't spread out. It caused a lot of concern with the others too. So we took it off.

Should I also try Vit E? And use the same method?

We're just doing what we can for her, trying to nurse her along.

Thought I'd ask about the dropper method....

Kara

(she's the fluffy black one that looks like a penguin!)

 

[cariboujaguar]

I have no idea, cute chickies, here's a bump

 

[sojeo]

Hi,

I'm no pro, but I have been handfeeding our lone chick with a syringe plus giving vitamins. Our little chick was hatched on day 25, very dry and needed assistance to get out of the shell. At first it seemed ok but by day 2 it was on death's door, literally with head back and limp lying in my hand. I just let a drip hang off the end up the dropper and then let it touch the tip of the beak. The vitamins automatically go down in the throat and the bird swallows it. The first couple of days it didn't seem to get the hang of swallowing very well and I had to hold it still to force it, but now at 4 days old it actually grabs at the dropper and tells me when it's hungry. I have been feeding it a mixture of milk, chick starter, vitamins, a little sugar and boiled egg yolk and it's doing terrific now. My problem now is that it doesn't seem to want to eat anything else, but then who can blame it? When my batteries are recharged I'll send a pic of me feeding it that was taken today.

Btw, what kind is the little yellow chick in your pic? It looks exactly like ours.

 

[hennypennysmom]

Hi Sojeo -

Wow - Thanks for all the great info! I have constructed a little "hospital room" (my kids call it that) in the brooder so little Petunia can have easy access to her own little bowl of food and water. She's exhausted from hopping around so much - and needs to rest and gain strength. Have no idea if she'll pull thru, but we have to try - she's so sweet. Agway says we could return her for another chick - but we all decided we just couldn't "exchange" her - so we are going to do what we can for her.

Funny thing is - that the other 3 were picking on her a bit, running over her etc (she's the "runt") until we opened up the brooder hospital room - now the three of them stand right next to her, but on the other side of the walls. It's a shallow cardboard box with no bottom. At first they were trying to fly in there, but they seemed to settle down. She fell right to sleep, poor girl!

I have NO idea what any of them are - they were called "assorted feather legs" in the book at Agway. Someone said they might be cochins - I guess we'll see!

Kara

 

[sojeo]

Hi Kara,

Yes, good to hear that Petunia is separated from the others and is getting some rest. I know our little chick gets a little overstimulated by my kids during the day. I jokingly call my daughter "Darla" from Finding Nemo behind her back. Just kidding, no, she's not bad at all with the chick, just wants to love it too much. I know just how much you want your little one to pull through, we are getting a whole bunch more hatching eggs to try again but we still wanted this little one since it had such a hard go of it.

It has really bonded with me and calls for me constantly. I have started letting it sleep in the neck of my hoodie where it will finally settle down. I had the worst thought though today when I was thinking of what kind of breed it could be because I was thinking a meat bird and from what I had seen they don't live long because of their breeding to be too large for their legs to withstand. As you can tell this little chicky is going to be a pet and will hopefully have a very long life. Does your chick have feathers on it's legs already?

 

[hennypennysmom]

Yes, Petunia is VERY fluffy - she looks like a baby penguin! My kids, like yours, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these chicks and the youngest (and most enthusiastic one) is 7 - she's very, very gentle with the chicks, but wants to pick them up and pick them up and pick them up! We sat and watched them tonight which we really love - it's amazing to watch them interact.

I was thinking the "hospital room" was not working - went out there about an hour ago and ALL of them were in there! Then 10 mins later, only Petunia was left in there, and she was standing and eating. So I'll keep checking.

Is this baby the only surviving chick of incubator eggs you hatched? We were going that route, but decided to get chicks. THANK GOODNESS - because just the stress of THIS is enough - forget about worrying for weeks on end what the outcome will be!!

Hope your little friend continues on a healthy road!

Kara

 

[sojeo]

She's very cute! Yes, this is the only one that survived! Here are my threads:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=181970
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=180955

I learned my lesson and went out and bought a real incubator on day 23. Yup, my thermometer was off and my humidity all over the place. It really was a harrowing 25 days, but I'm hoping for a much easier time with my new bator! I've got about 2 doz coming, don't want that many, so what happens if they all hatch? Lol!

Here are some pics that I took today.

Good luck with your little one, it sounds like she's doing ok if she's eating and drinking. Definitely try the vitamins, I'm sure that will fix her right up. Mine are from my son who is now 4 1/2, so they are old and expired, but still work!