Lethargic newborn chick - maybe wry neck

ackie

previously jwehl // dogs & cats & squirrels oh my!
Nov 3, 2020
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16,034
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Atlanta GA
Hi! I received chicks in the mail about 24 hours ago from McMurray hatchery. 16 of the 17 seem great. 1 is smaller than the others and more lethargic. I noticed she was smaller yesterday and she just looks more fragile, but I didnt notice her acting differently until today. She's lethargic, crashed out, not drinking on her own, keeps opening her mouth & her head just seems a bit floppy.

She was under a heat lamp with all the others in a cardboard box yesterday until about 2am when I put them all under 2 broodies in a nest box (milk crate with a lip so the babies couldn't fall out with hay as bedding). The broodies sat on them at night and I checked on them first thing in the morning when the rooster crowed (literally). I saw the hens get off the nests, poop etc. but they seemed to not be attuned to the chicks cries so I took all the chicks back - that prompted one hen to say "no wait, these are mine", hopped in the box I'd put them in to take them away and cozied on down to warm them... so I left her half arbitrarily & brought the other half inside. The inside half is under a heat lamp in a milk crate with hay.

The little girl I'm talking about is in the inside group. She was laying down looking dead-ish when I got home from brunch and I thought she died but she is still kicking. Shes in my bra now because the other birds kept running over her. I offered her water and got her to drink some but she wasnt thrilled about it and she didnt want food. This is all really long winded so I think I missed something but anyway I think maybe her neck is a little floppy / weird and she keeps opening her mouth a lot.
 
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