Lethargic tiny chick, seemingly no other symptoms

[steenie]

Hi all,

So my parents (I am 24 y/o) bought chicks at our local store (very trustworthy, great store), and one of them, who was the oldest of the bunch we got (the others were smaller than her) have all outgrown her and she just has not grown. She is about 3 weeks old now and has grown slightly, but is about half the size of her siblings. We brought her to the store we got her from and showed them her to ask what she is (possibly bantam pekin? she was originally supposed to be a regular sized cochin) and they said she looked healthy but is just naturally small, maybe genetics or something so that fit my hypothesis of her being a pekin. We did some research and learned that pekins are not cold hardy (the batch of chicks is intended to go to our outdoor coop with chickens who are free range) so I decided to keep her as my house chicken when I go to medical school this August (I will have an indoor hutch, and outdoor hutch on my balcony) and I even got a silkie chick to keep her company. HOWEVER, the one thing that is not sitting right is that she has always been lethargic, I thought maybe the regular sized chicks were pushing her around, maybe she is a runt... so I put her & the silkie in their own tank and I add nutridrench to their water, I pipette nutridrench to her (one drop/day), I even pipette fed her egg yolk & plain greek yogurt for a few days, now I give them cooked scrambled egg on top of grit, chick starter with 16% protein, worms, and crickets, water is changed daily minimum and tank bedding (pine shavings) is changed every other day, heater is kept on one side temp is at 90 Fahrenheit. She eats, drinks, and poops fine, she is just very inactive, seems to fatigue easily, and even the tiny silkie chick (less than one week one old, half her size) is able to push her around and just seems so much more energetic. I am hoping that she perks up eventually... I am even ok with it if she is just a dopey chick, as long as she is healthy & happy.

My main concern is a fatal defect/heart problem.

She has no other visual abnormalities (regular poop, no nasal issues, no gasping) but just seems very lethargic and fragile, her legs/feet seem very tiny and delicate, even compared to the silkie, and her eyes mostly seem half open, not nice & round like the other chicks. She also seems like she always wants to sleep/cuddle.

Please advise! Thanks in advance.

Attaching pics for reference


Eyes half open:

Comparison next to an ameraucana & lavender orpington chicks, similar age

Next to lavender orpington chick (i think the orpington here is a rooster but still, major size difference):

Her with the silkie (silkie is much younger):

Thank you!


~Steenie, Buttercup, Thumbelina & the rest of the gang

 

[rosemarythyme]

Sounds like a possible case of failure to thrive, something is wrong internally/developmentally and they usually don't make it.

 

[janiedoe]

I would cut out the worms. Feed her chick feed and scrambled eggs.
I have a little legbar that grew very slowly. She is still the size of a bantam. (She is now a year and a few months old.)
I almost gave up on her. She couldn't even walk. She had none of the symptoms of cocidosis, but I tried corid any way. I was also worried she had a vitamin deficiency, so I started treating her for that while treating with corid.
She was so lethargic that I ended up giving her a tiny drop of infant vitamins (iron free) every day. I also fed her scrambled egg daily.
It took about 10 days to see results, and almost 3 weeks, before she was healthy enough to go back into the brooder, with her flock. In the mean time, I'd take her out to visit them daily.
I did treat all of them for corid, just in case.
I hope your little one does well. Good luck, and keep us updated.

 

[steenie]

I would cut out the worms. Feed her chick feed and scrambled eggs.
I have a little legbar that grew very slowly. She is still the size of a bantam. (She is now a year and a few months old.)
I almost gave up on her. She couldn't even walk. She had none of the symptoms of cocidosis, but I tried corid any way. I was also worried she had a vitamin deficiency, so I started treating her for that while treating with corid.
She was so lethargic that I ended up giving her a tiny drop of infant vitamins (iron free) every day. I also fed her scrambled egg daily.
It took about 10 days to see results, and almost 3 weeks, before she was healthy enough to go back into the brooder, with her flock. In the mean time, I'd take her out to visit them daily.
I did treat all of them for corid, just in case.
I hope your little one does well. Good luck, and keep us updated.

Thank you much. Picking up Corid tomorrow. Feeling very hopeful

 

[Aunt Angus]

I have a similar situation. I found out mine has a deficiency of some sort. That may not be the case for yours. I switched to gamebird starter (24% protein) on the advice of another BYCer Between that and Nutridrench, mine is doing great! I also made sure she ate every couple of hours.

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

I don't have a lot of experience, but it sounds like you are paying close attention and being responsive to what she is showing you. Keep up the good work! I hope your perseverance pays off.

One of my wellies was not looking too good from the first day I had her. She was the sleepiest of the six when I picked them up from the post office, and then even once I brought her home, she did not seem to perk up as much as the others. I started to notice she was not just "sleepy" but when she got up, she was literally stumbling around blind. She was being pecked right in the eyes so much so that her eyes were sealed shut! I initially had isolated the bully bird or birds, and I had hoped that would help, but then when I saw the state she was in the next morning, I realized I had to isolate her instead, for her own protection. That is so great that you found her a friend! I know it is not good for them to be alone.

I was eventually able to reintegrate her with her hatchmates after a good saline rinse to her eyes, she was able to cautiously open them again, an egg yolk vitamin + green tea mixture by syringe, lots of love, and a heaping dose of baby menthol rub on her featherpicked head, as once she came back, they moved onto pecking her head. Poor thing. She seems to be thriving now, it's incredible. That morning when I pulled her out blind, we really didn't think she was going to make it. If you keep at it though, at least you will know you tried everything you knew how.

We will also be dosing everyone with amprolium / Corid so we can safely integrate the two batches of chicks. I keep reading everywhere that it's safe, so I feel like it can't hurt to try if she's already struggling. Hopefully that helps her get her strength back! (((hugs)))

Other than that, I gave my chicks magic water for the first few days, and then I've switched to a vitamin and electrolyte water packet, I just mix into a gallon of water.

https://smile.amazon.com/Pack-Elect...sprefix=chicken+vitamin+packet,pets,65&sr=1-2
(Mine is a different brand, but same idea.)

The nutridrench sounds awesome! There is also a stress support supplement you can give called Rescue Remedy. I heard about it from the Chickenlandia lady on Youtube. She has some other homeopathic remedies she uses; you could check out her channel for some more guidance regarding that stuff, if you're interested. Best of luck!

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0030NWZUC?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1
(She says she uses the human one, but the pet one was going to arrive faster.)

 

[steenie]

Hi all, just an update. I started treating with Corid in the water and have been making sure she drinks a little bit by dipping her beak every half hour since 3pm then now every hour except overnight. She is already perking up with her eyes more open, her movements more rapid and she just seems overall more lively. Not as much as her playmate but it's only day one. Thank you all so much prognosis is hopeful overall!!!

 

[janiedoe]

That's great newsPlease continue to update us on her condition.

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

Yay! Thanks for the hopefully update! Onward and upward little chickie!

 

[steenie]

Hi guys, so here is how treatment has been going so far:

Day 1: lots of improvement
Day 2: went backwards A LOT, thought she was going to pass to be honest, but she was very very sleepy the whole day
Day 3: She got better again, not as energetic as day one but 7/10 in terms of being "like a chicken" (energetic, preening, eating) we started also giving her honey water in addition to Corid water.
Day 4: (today) she is still holding up. She is stretching a lot, drinking on her own, eating, chirping louder

Plan:
Day 5: (tomorrow) will be day 5 of Corid treatment so we will stop treatment after tomorrow and go back to nutridrench water and add honey.

Overall she is doing much better, but not 100%. Hopefully she will continue to perk up and grow