Lethargic Baby Chick

[corinnegoerner]

Hello!

I am new to raising chicks. I purchased a few different breeds of chicks. Including 2 blue andalusians. These 2 chicks are very lethargic, one more so than the other. They dont move around much and constantly have their heads pointed down and their eyes closed. They are only a couple days old and im concerned they arent going to make it. What can I do for them???

 

[bloom chicks]

Do you have sav- a-chick electrolite and vitamins. Try giving it to them with a dropper and see if that helps.

 

[corinnegoerner]

ive heard about sav-a-chick. My vet told me to give them sugar water or gatorade ...will that be ok until I can purchase sav-a-chick? i also have them on a medicated feed.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Sugar water, Gatorade or pedialyte will be fine. Mix it with water. If you have poly-vi-sol WITHOUT iron, that would be better.

You could make some feed damp with water and see if you can get it to eat some.

 

[corinnegoerner]

thanks for the advice! , all my other chicks are thriving, its just these 2 that seem to declining. hopefully they make it!

 

[dklaphaak]

I just read over these posts and tried the sugar water with an old eye dropper I rinsed out. It was amazing! Within 10 or 15 seconds, the lethargic chick went from refusing to drink, to getting the sugar on it's beak, to drinking from the dropper! Then, it jumped out of my hand, ran back into the brooder and summarily trounced on the all the other chicks.... WOW. Sugar really is a miracle drug. ;-)

 

[Hen Power]

Thanks a million!! I got a sweet little Golden Lace Wyandotte and an Americauna today at the ranch supply store; both birds were active at the store. However, they were in their container a bit longer than I would have liked. AND kerosene had spilled in the back of the station wagon, which couldn't have helped much since I had to keep all the windows open.

When we got home I put her beak in water, but Miss Wyandotte was lethargic. She just stood in one spot. I checked on her a couple of times and she wasn't perking up and had finally lain down in a corner of my chick enclosure. I was thinking, "this is Adios Amigos! if I don't do something quick," Which really made me anxious, so i came here for advice.

I gave her some sugar water with a dropper as suggested here and she became more animated. She is back in the chick enclosure and interacting with the other chicks, moving around, and seems better. So Thanks!!!!!

The "formula" I used for the sugar water was just about 1/4 c water to about a 1/4 tsp or just a tad more sugar. I didn't think you should do 2 to 1 sugar to water, since I'm not making syrup! If I'm wrong, please let me know.

 

[DA in AZ]

I read these post after picking up my chicks from the PO. One was lethargic. Omg amazing! I gave sicky sugar water about 15 min ago and she is moving around now! Whoop whoop!