Is it starving????

[Rose98]

I have a 3 day old chick who is constantly squawking apart from when it is asleep. I know they can survive for up to 3 day s after they hatch on the yolk. it has an empty crop and is refusing to drink and eat ....i tried wetting the starter pellets but still refuses...... i ended getting about half a ml of egg yolk and 2 ml of water. If it is starving itself i want to help it before it goes to far....
Also how often and how much food do i give it????

 

[Cyterreo]

Hello Rose,
My suggestions are these:

1) My go to food is a fresh egg mixed with corn meal, a bit on the wet side.

2) Check the chick's vent. i.e. see if it has passed anything out the back end? If it is "corked" do a warm wash and see if you can gently remove the fecal matter. Do not rub the umbilicus. My concern would be a digestive problem or a clog at the back end.

3) Most of a warm blooded animal's calories is spent maintaining it's core body temperature. Make sure your heat lamps are spot on temp, as that will help lighten the calorie requirements a bit.

4) I would offer the chick as much as it will eat, but I would limit it (to the first day or two) with wet foods. I will push fluids on a young chick. i.e. dipping their beak in water and hold it there for a quick second. I generally will repeat this about 3-4 times until I see the chick holding it's neck back swallowing. I would check it and force a drink every 4-6 hours.

When I hatch, I typically will pro-biotic them for 24 hours. They get nothing but water (with vitamins) and grogel. I have a lot of little wet messes all over the place, but it lets me know that their intestine is started with good bacteria and things are working from the front end to the back end.

Otherwise, I do not know. I will watch the thread and learn.

Best of luck!
-Cyterreo.

 

[Rose98]

It vent is fine it pooed a little while ago..... it was runny but looked normal otherwise.
I will try the rest and see how it goes... thanks.

 

[Rose98]

It gobbles down the food....but has not pooed since.
It is continually sleeping and when it isn't sleeping it still squawking.
It's crop still fills empty.....
Is worth putting anything like ACV in the water???
Any more suggestions???

 

[ChickenLegs13]

Single chicks by themselves tend to peep a lot and they all sleep a good bit. Even though they can go 3 days after hatching without eating, they will eat within hours of hatching if food is available. Maybe your's doesn't associate the feed dish with food. I sprinkle the food on the floor the first several days and they peck it right up. sometimes they're stupid and you have to peck their food with your finger so that they get the idea. Sometimes you have to dip their beaks in their water to teach them to drink.
But you said it's eating but not pooing; is it not drinking? He needs to drink too or get clogged up inside.

 

[Rose98]

He isn't an only chick....there are 10 others which all appear to be fine.
I did sprinkle food and also wet it and put it through a dropper but still it refused.
It has done a least one poo since last night, it looked a little more normal, but it was a bit yellow...guess that could be because of the egg yolk.
Yes it is drinking.... every two or three hours it starts calling and I feed it and it drinks quite a bit.

 

[ChickenLegs13]

There's always one in the bunch that has a failure to thrive and doesn't make it.
When one of mine gets like that I always put it in a box by itself with a light for heat and it's own feed & water. If they can be saved, applying heat always seems to help them recover. Seperating it from the others also keeps the other chicks from knocking it over, stepping on it etc and allows it to eat & drink without competition and most important, keeps it from infecting the others if it has a disease.
Good luck with him. Hope he perks up.

 

[Rose98]

Thanks for all the help, seems to be a little more lively at the moment and it doesn't want to stop eating egg yolk....