Hello all. It's been awhile since I've been on as life has gotten in the way. We've got an issue that we're struggling with in the second of three new Silkie arrivals to our home. We're really stumped since we're usually pretty good with diagnosing our birds' issues when they arise, but this one has us over a barrel.
I'm going to put some dates/days in so the progression can be followed:
It's now Sunday evening, April 30. We picked up three Silkie chicks from a nearby small-scale breeder last Sunday, 4/23, to add to our flock late this summer. They were each one day older than the other, one hatched on 4/19, another on 4/20, and the youngest on 4/22.
Just days after getting them, the oldest bird died last Wednesday, 4/26 after having acted completely normal in the brooder the days and nights prior. When we looked in on them at 7am Wednesday, all appeared asleep; however, looking in again at 9am, one hadn't moved. We picked it up, and it was gone 5 minutes later.
Two days later, Friday, April 28, we notice the youngest of three (there are now 2 chicks) looking lethargic, so we began a regimen of moistened medicated Chick Starter, Yogurt, Nutri-Drench, and a bit of Vitamin E. It's worth noting that the chick has had little interest in eating or drinking on its own since arriving here last Sunday; it would eat a few small live mealworms if offered, but it ate almost none of the Chick Starter.
If pulled from the brooder, we can keep her awake long enough to interest her in a few live mealworms, and she'll usually eat a couple, and sometimes she'll eat a super-small amount of the wet mash. That's the best we can get out of her (or in her). So, we've been tube-feeding her since Friday night/Saturday morning. She gets about 1 to 1-1/2cc of a very wet mix of the above ingredients about every hour or so.
Her stool on Friday looked like it had traces of blood in it, but a stool sample from tonight (Sunday evening) looks more normal. She sleeps around the clock, and only gets up if awakened by us. If we place her in front of the waterer, she'll usually drink a few sips on her own, but won't seek out the water otherwise, opting to go back to the pine-shavings to go back to sleep.
She's unsteady on her legs/feet, and hasn't gained much weight at all. Her sister that is just a day or two older is twice her weight already. What could be going on with this 10 day old chick?? Thank you!
NOTE: I've attached photos of the size difference in the chicks (she is the smaller of the two and on the right in the photo), stool photos from last Friday (Friday look more "reddish") and this Sunday, a photo of the brooder setup, and the temperature reading at 1-1/2" off the brooder floor.
I'm going to put some dates/days in so the progression can be followed:
It's now Sunday evening, April 30. We picked up three Silkie chicks from a nearby small-scale breeder last Sunday, 4/23, to add to our flock late this summer. They were each one day older than the other, one hatched on 4/19, another on 4/20, and the youngest on 4/22.
Just days after getting them, the oldest bird died last Wednesday, 4/26 after having acted completely normal in the brooder the days and nights prior. When we looked in on them at 7am Wednesday, all appeared asleep; however, looking in again at 9am, one hadn't moved. We picked it up, and it was gone 5 minutes later.
Two days later, Friday, April 28, we notice the youngest of three (there are now 2 chicks) looking lethargic, so we began a regimen of moistened medicated Chick Starter, Yogurt, Nutri-Drench, and a bit of Vitamin E. It's worth noting that the chick has had little interest in eating or drinking on its own since arriving here last Sunday; it would eat a few small live mealworms if offered, but it ate almost none of the Chick Starter.
If pulled from the brooder, we can keep her awake long enough to interest her in a few live mealworms, and she'll usually eat a couple, and sometimes she'll eat a super-small amount of the wet mash. That's the best we can get out of her (or in her). So, we've been tube-feeding her since Friday night/Saturday morning. She gets about 1 to 1-1/2cc of a very wet mix of the above ingredients about every hour or so.
Her stool on Friday looked like it had traces of blood in it, but a stool sample from tonight (Sunday evening) looks more normal. She sleeps around the clock, and only gets up if awakened by us. If we place her in front of the waterer, she'll usually drink a few sips on her own, but won't seek out the water otherwise, opting to go back to the pine-shavings to go back to sleep.
She's unsteady on her legs/feet, and hasn't gained much weight at all. Her sister that is just a day or two older is twice her weight already. What could be going on with this 10 day old chick?? Thank you!
NOTE: I've attached photos of the size difference in the chicks (she is the smaller of the two and on the right in the photo), stool photos from last Friday (Friday look more "reddish") and this Sunday, a photo of the brooder setup, and the temperature reading at 1-1/2" off the brooder floor.
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