I have a listless 7 week old chick and need help

[Urban Rustic]

My chicks are 7 weeks old and one of my girls is having a hard time. She used to be lively! the friendliest of the bunch. However, over the last week or so, she has gotten more and more listless. Now, she will repeatedly just lay down where ever she is. She won't really forage when she is out. She isn't growing like the rest either. She wobbles after she jumps down from something low, takes 2 steps, and then lays down. She has no injuries that I can see. Nothing "appears" wrong, except she eats and drinks very little and lays around. The other chicks are running, foraging, pigging out, flying, etc.

I give them DE and ACV all the time. Today, I gave them all a BIG dose of cayenne, ground up squash/pumpkin seeds, and yogurt/kefir whey plain. I don't know if she ate any of it. :-/ Should I separate her out? Give her anything? Thanks!

 

[leadwolf1]

If it were mine, I would treat for coccidia...Corid is the med of choice and you can buy it at Tractor Supply.

 

[kelar]

I'm not sure why you are giving your 7 week old chicks ACV and DE, but at this age, I would restrict them to plain water and starter crumbles and let their digestive systems mature before loading them down with other things. AT 7 weeks old, the first thing to suspect in a droopy chick is coccidiosis - very likely if they have been outdoors. None of the things you mentioned giving them will prevent it or treat it. Suggest starting them on liquid Corid immediately (dose is 2 tsp. per gallon of water) OR if they have been on medicated feed already, use sulfadimethoxine or sulmet. Cocci is a killer and can do a lot of internal damage before you see severe signs like blood in droppings. Treat all the chicks, give them no treats or anything but their crumbles and water while treating.

 

[leadwolf1]

I'm not sure why you are giving your 7 week old chicks ACV and DE, but at this age, I would restrict them to plain water and starter crumbles and let their digestive systems mature before loading them down with other things. AT 7 weeks old, the first thing to suspect in a droopy chick is coccidiosis - very likely if they have been outdoors. None of the things you mentioned giving them will prevent it or treat it. Suggest starting them on liquid Corid immediately (dose is 2 tsp. per gallon of water) OR if they have been on medicated feed already, use sulfadimethoxine or sulmet. Cocci is a killer and can do a lot of internal damage before you see severe signs like blood in droppings. Treat all the chicks, give them no treats or anything but their crumbles and water while treating.

I agree with all except for two things. ACV is good for young chicks. It helps the digestive system develop and aids in the treatment and prevention of pasty butt. Many people use it, in moderation, with great results. As for the DE, Farmer's Helper Baby Cakes contain DE. If it were bad for chicks, I don't think it would be in these.

Medicated feed does not have anything to do with using Corid as treatment. That feed contains a very low dosage of amprolium that aids in the prevention of coccidiosis. It is not a high enough dosage to use to treat coccidiosis. Corid is the medication of choice. Not only is it easier on the digestive system but it also treats all types of coccidia whereas Sulmet only treats a couple.

OP...I would treat with Corid. If you can only find the powder form, it is just as good as the liquid. Treat for 5 - 7 days. If the sickest won't drink, use a syringe or dropper and hand feed every 2 - 3 hours until she is drinking on her own. For dosage, only give her as much as she would normally drink in one sitting. Continue with the yogurt. That will both soothe her intestines and rebuild the good bacteria. Keep us posted! I hope all will be well soon

 

[kelar]

In discussions with my avian vet, she has told me that except in certain cases, ACV is not necessary, nor helpful to add to water and it can prevent birds from drinking adequate water because they don't like the taste. Leadwolf, you have your medications mixed up - it is Corid that only treats one type of cocci, the sulfa drugs are much more broad spectrum. While the sulfas are hard on the digestive system, sulfadimethoxine (as opposed to Sulmet) is very safe and considered the drug of choice for chicks that have already been getting small doses of amprollium via medicated feed. While Corid is safe and effective in many cases, a chick that is already sick may not respond to it and I would go to the sulfas in order to insitute a more broad spectrum treatment. I have found that chicks getting amprollium via feed are usually infected with a type of cocci that is not killed by the Corid. In chicks that may already be having internal damage caused by cocci, adding DE to their feed may further cause intestinal distress. I DO agree that very sick chicks should be dropper fed the medicated water to make sure they are getting the medication into their systems. Re yogurt - I think the jury is still out on that one. Chickens do not have the ability to digest milk products and in the case of a sick chick, I take my vet's advice and stick with crumbles and medicated water.

 

[leadwolf1]

I am not confused. Search on here for the difference. It is posted numerous times. As far as feeding probiotics, I have found that the chicks bounce back better when given them.

Here is one such thread...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/675969/cocci-question/10#post_9133832

As far as discussions with Avian Vets. I have had many also. Sometimes practice overrules what it taught in text books.

 

[kelar]

Both types of drugs are effective and Corid is certainly the drug of choice UNLESS it is suspected that there is a resistance to it, which may occur with chicks being fed medicated starter. For the OP, the important thing is to start treatment of some sort right away & Corid is certainly the safer option. I completely agree that probiotics are useful, but there are probiotics made specifically for birds that seem the better choice. There is a great deal of disagreement on the use of DE for birds as can be seen in many posts on the subject. I just think that in the case of chicks that may already have intestinal upset from cocci, it would not be beneficial and could be harmful.

 

[Urban Rustic]

Well, I went to TSC today....and I was blown away that the Corid was about $25! :-O Anyway, so....we are really trying hard to eat food that is antibiotic free and such....so I really did not want to give any of the ladies antibiotics at all. I'm not entirely sure if a coccidiostat is considered that, but it was bothering me a bit. I decided I would research it tonight and see what I could find. Came home this evening to check on all the chicks. Miss Fargo, the 'sick' one, was up and bouncing around, clucking and crooning to me, walking all over the coop with the flock, didn't lay down at all as she had been.....just acting way, way better after the things I did this AM. So, I'm thrilled and will be watching her a few more days and doing the things I did today and see what happens. I truly could not be happier though.

One question, we moved them to a new coop 9 days ago....and that is when she really got listless acting. Could she have just really have stressed out from the move? Is that possible?

 

[leadwolf1]

It's a possibility but I wouldn't think it would stress her for that long...she was with her buddies the whole time. Amprolium is not an antibiotic. I hope that your chick recovers. I don't remember paying $25 for Corid but I bought it about a year ago.