I need some help my two week old chick is weak laying around and gloomy IDK whats wrong

[jojoncandie]

Hi I had some bb reds hatch out naturally two weeks ago and up until today they were all running around and full of life...I went out to check on all my chickens today and noticed one was laid over and couldnt stand up. the rest were fine...i tried to give the little fellow water myself and it did drink but it would also hold its head up towards the roof and open and close its mouth like it was struggling to breath...my others like I said are not acting weird or anything and I was wondering if anybody had any suggestions on what it could be

 

[jojoncandie]

i lost this little chic and today two more are like that...any help would be appreciated

 

[Sylvestor12]

I can't make guarentees but you could try giving them sugar water and yogurt. Hope it helps.

 

[jojoncandie]

ok thanks i will try this it should help them with a lil energy

 

[welasharon]

Two things to consider
1 look up cocci...what does the poop look like? and are they puffed up?
2 could be a vitamin deficiency although they don't die that fast (go back to one...talked myself out of number 2) I would start treating for cocci just in case as it kills fast. IN the meantime maybe someone more experienced with it will see this post

 

[jojoncandie]

thanks...they have not look ruffled up and their poop is normal looking to me..I mean it isnt red or anything and it has the lil white spot on it...the two I lost yesterday felt cold to the touch when i picked them up. My other three that were not showing any signs of illness were warm to the touch...they are not getting cold by not having enough heat and they are not getting too much heat either. I have them on medicated feed but also have a vaccine that u dilute with diluted water..its pretty much a spray on vaccine but the feed bag and vaccine say do not use with any other thing that is got anything for cocci in it because it would just cancel out the vaccine...should i stick with the feed or get them off of that and just use the vaccine?

 

[Sylvestor12]

I don't think it is cocci because they don't have bloody stools. For a large shot of energy you could try Nutri-Drench, but that will just give you more time to find out the problem. Just a thought, I found this on the Internet, see if it's a possibility...


When you notice a young chicken lame in one or both legs, perhaps his wings dropped down unnaturally, mouth gaping trying to breathe, it is time to consider the possibility of an active Marek's disease infection.

Marek's has four typical expressions: ocular (eye), cutaneous (skin), neural (nerves) and visceral (internal organs).

In the ocular form, the shape of the chicken's pupil deforms (it should be round) and the brown iris turns gray. Light sensitivity occurs followed by blindness.

The cutaneous form displays reddened, swollen lumps at the site of the feather follicle.

In the neural form the sciatic nerve is swollen causing lameness to the point of paralysis in the legs, dropped wings, “gaping” (gasping for breath), weight loss and diarrhea. The birds can't get to food and water without assistance and may be trampled by other chickens.

The visceral form is only observed by an overall wasting. During autopsy tumors on many of the internal organs can be seen.
Occasionally a chicken will seem to resolve his symptoms and function normally for a short time. This is almost always followed by death due to the growth of internal tumors.

 

[jojoncandie]

thanks will check into this...i did notice this morning that one of my chickens does have ruffled up feathers but not a single bloody stool...from what u wrote i do know the ones showing worse stays in one spot and some have drooping wings and mouths gaping...thank you I will see what i can get to fix this problem in my young chicks from now on