Keeping a Smaller Chick Warm

[everybirdie]

Hi everyone: one of our new baby chicks is a little smaller and seems to be a little chillier than our other three . Any suggestions on how we can help warm it up more without overheating the others? Chicks are 8 days old and the brooder temp is at about 90°. The little one is still eating and drinking, it's just staying under the lamp much more often than the others. Thanks in advance!

 

[azygous]

The tiny chick is probably not efficiently converting food into calories, so you need to give it some straight glucose in the form of warm sugar water. Two or three drops every hour as long as you're awake can help immensely.

If you have any soft wool or fleece fabric scraps, warm them in the microwave (not so hot as to burn the chick) and let the chick snuggle inside the scrap like a nest but keep it with the other chicks. If you want, you can warm a larger scrap and let all the chicks snuggle in it. Chicks love soft and plush snuggly stuff. But if you use this, raise the heat lamp up so the chicks don't get too much heat. (I prefer heating pads to heat lamps, safer, more efficient and chicks don't easily get overheated.)

Poultry Nutri-drench can also infuse the chick with quickly absorbable nutrients that can give this chick a badly needed boost.

 

[everybirdie]

Thank you for your advice! We'll get going on the sugar water. Would you recommend the nutri drench in addition to electrolytes added to water?

 

[azygous]

Yes. But with Nutri-drench and the sugar water, electrolytes are really not necessary and the added salt isn't good for a small chick for more than just long enough to stabilize it.

 

[everybirdie]

I wanted to share a quick update--we gave the little one four doses of sugar water yesterday. She seemed a lot perkier by the evening and even ate some crumbles from my hand. Today she was moving around more and following the other chicks to the feeder and waterer. I picked up Nutri-Drench this morning just in case, but I'm liking the signs we're seeing. Fingers crossed she'll make it through.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

I wanted to share a quick update--we gave the little one four doses of sugar water yesterday. She seemed a lot perkier by the evening and even ate some crumbles from my hand. Today she was moving around more and following the other chicks to the feeder and waterer. I picked up Nutri-Drench this morning just in case, but I'm liking the signs we're seeing. Fingers crossed she'll make it through.

That's great! Nutri-Drench is my "go to" for chicks and ducklings needing a boost. Hoping she continues getting stronger and more active!

 

[everybirdie]

one year later update: the little one made it through and is actually the biggest hen in the flock.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

one year later update: the little one made it through and is actually the biggest hen in the flock.

That's fantastic! Congratulations!!