Just hatched baby Serama chick having motor difficulties- can it be helped?

[Bocktobery 10]

Thanks chickcrack!

She's extremely energetic now. She is able to squirm out of my grip and has taken a dive to the floor a few times. She seems to be handling that well though. Didn't seem phased at all! (Yes, I will be more careful.. she's just that squirmy!) As soon as I feed her and put her back in her pen, she starts to cry for me. I've not tried putting her with any of her hatch mates- just afraid of getting them sick if she is still infectious, but I think at this point she is probably not. She's just too energetic.

Her crop is emptying at record speed- having to feed her about 1 1/2 cc's every hour. I think she is trying to make up for lost time in growth or something like that. She was a bit emaciated when she was a chick as I could easily feel her keel bone, but a few days ago I noticed she had much more flesh on her bones- now with the growth spurt it seems like she seems a bit emaciated again, so I will have to step on on the feeding. Perhaps I'm mixing too much water with the baby hand feeding formula and she is not getting enough. She is getting bigger though, which is a good sign.

Some days her down feathers look very nice, other days its back to looking greasy and flat and messy. Not sure what is causing this but wondered maybe if it was due to lack of drinking water. I do give her a few sips of water after feeding,(maybe I should do this before?) but she can't have a water dish just yet in her enclosure since she might drown in it, somehow. Hard to know how much water I should be giving her in a day.

Oh and I shined light into her eyes to see if her pupils would react- they did not. Does this mean for certain she is blind? I'm assuming it does.

 

[Bocktobery 10]

Well, in about two days, its hard to believe but, she will be turning four weeks old. She is still stunted in growth, but is growing. I've come to realize she is probably what is known as a silkie serama- her feathers coming in (except oddly for her wing feathers) seem very long and wispy, soft, almost like fur.

She is doing well. I am still having to feed her though. That's still a problem but I think overall she is taking her time to learn. I imagine it would if you don't have sight. She does eat on her own a bit, but maybe not nearly enough as she should. I have put water in there for her but it usually ends up getting spilled. I think she is still largely dependent on me to help her. Progress is slow, but as she grows I suspect she will learn.

My concerns are yesterday i found her eating the paper towel liner in her cage. She even ripped off a piece ans started running around with it peeping as if she found something extra tasty and good- just like how peeps do when they find a bug and 'announce' it to the others who might not have been so fortunate. I've since removed the paper towels and switched to clean rag towels. So far I have not noticed any problems with her crop not emptying or being stopped up in the backside from the paper towel consumption... I hope that the probability of that happening has passed.

So today I introduced some chick grit for her just in case (probably should have had that in there before) and it seems she took to it right away. Its hard to tell is she actually consumed any of it though. I don't know how you get a blind chick to eat little rocks!

I have stopped giving her vitamins about a week ago now. I decided to give it a break and see how she was as I learned that sometimes vitamins can actually cause the ticks in the movement of the muscles. She still has them every so often but it doesn't seem as pronounced as I said before. I may start to give her some vitamins again soon.

One thing I've learned is that if you have a chick that is not growing at the rate it should, be sure and keep the temperature up and don't lower it just because your chick is at 4 weeks when its development is at 2 and a half weeks still.. ... I've noticed her hatch mates nearly have full feathers by now, but she is behind and does get chilled at lower temperatures. Perhaps she is chilled because she has silkie feathers, I don't know, but I thought it good to point that out... somewhere on the internet.

She is a little darling though.. and I'm enjoying watching her learn and grow. Being blind, she has funny ways of doing things that make me laugh. She spins in circles with her neck stretched up all the way when alarmed. When searching she puts her head down and out straight to the ground, walks forward and peeps rhythmically- as if she is echo locating or something. You can see the determination in her when she does this, its adorable. She likes to cuddle and makes cooing noises when doing so.

 

[Bocktobery 10]

Some recent photos of her...

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thanks for the update

I'm glad to see she is still getting along --- and you are doing such a great job

Edited:

Such a sweet cutie pie!!

 

[Bocktobery 10]

Thanks for the update

I'm glad to see she is still getting along --- and you are doing such a great job

Edited:

Such a sweet cutie pie!!

Thank you Wyorp Rock! She's hangin' in there. ... so am I, I guess.

Sometiems she seems so fragile and I think she's not going to make it, other days she seems fine and healthy... we'll see. I'll keep at it.

 

[Bocktobery 10]

A few more pictures to share...

I took some comparison photos to show her size next to her hatch-mates, and also a standard size chick.

Here is the little blind chick (on the right) next to her smallest Serama hatch-mate... (the other Seramas that hatched are bigger than these two)




Here is a photo (below) of the non-blind hatch mate Serama with standard size chick- a C. Legbar pullet. All chicks in these photos are 4 weeks old now and hatched at the same time.


It was difficult to get the photos- all were moving quite a bit. But just wanted to show the difference in size. My little one has not really grown much the past week, which is concerning.

 

[Eggsitter]

I saw the "walking backwards" post and remembered the story of an old turkey who did that. A farmer cured him w sauerkraut.
Can you get some Bubbies juice into the chick? At least try ACV.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

A few more pictures to share...

I took some comparison photos to show her size next to her hatch-mates, and also a standard size chick.

Here is the little blind chick (on the right) next to her smallest Serama hatch-mate... (the other Seramas that hatched are bigger than these two)




Here is a photo (below) of the non-blind hatch mate Serama with standard size chick- a C. Legbar pullet. All chicks in these photos are 4 weeks old now and hatched at the same time.


It was difficult to get the photos- all were moving quite a bit. But just wanted to show the difference in size. My little one has not really grown much the past week, which is concerning.

They are all so cute

She does have some catching up to do. Hopefully when she gets adjusted she can start eating on her own. I know there are members here that keep blind chickens, so it is doable. You may want to see if they have any tips.

These two threads look like they have very recent activity.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1024494/keeping-a-blind-chicken
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/574213/blind-chicken-what-do-i-do

 

[chickcrack]

That was Happy at 2 1/2 weeks. The first day he stood on his own! You can see his head is still tilted up. Your little ones are all adorable! What you describe about spinning in circles when startled or excited is Happy to a tee and he still does that today. My brother calls him Sideshow Bob lol. He also whines like none of my other chickens. He wants to be picked up often and spins at my feet and whines until he gets his way. I think he saw too much of my cats as a chick because he really doesn't act like a chicken. I never actually considered that Happy may have a vision disability until reading about your little Serama. But there are so many similarities that perhaps he does. I know he can see...but maybe not normally.
Your little one will catch up with her feathers and growth. Happy was far behind his hatch mates as well. He still isn't as big as his dad but close enough. Keep up your great work. I'm sure you are in a routine by now. When she doesn't need you so much you won't know what to do with yourself!

 

[Bocktobery 10]

I saw the "walking backwards" post and remembered the story of an old turkey who did that. A farmer cured him w sauerkraut.
Can you get some Bubbies juice into the chick? At least try ACV.

Oh, I'm so sorry for the late reply.. just saw it now..

Interesting.. about the sauerkraut. I had fed her kefir before.. could that be similar enough? I wonder if the sauerkraut is homemade? I've been meaning to try that out, but a bit fearful of growing the wrong sort of bacteria in it.

I am not sure what Bubbies juice is.. could you let me know more about it? I haven't' tried ACV yet, but I should.. she doesn't drink or eat on her own yet, sadly. Maybe I can mix it in her food?