My Plymouth Rock is having some problems

[Azfra]

Hello everyone
Hope you are having a good day, recently my 2 week Plymouth Rock started having some issues;
1. She extends her neck and opens her mouth
2. She sits down a lot! And very unpredictable as well when
3. She seems significantly smaller than my other 2 chickens even though she is only about 1.5 weeks younger
4.she hold her feathers out so they don’t touch her body
5. She has trouble balancing while running
6. She sometimes lies down awkwardly
Other things to know would be that she eats her food and drinks properly, she has some trouble flying or jumping for that matter however she seems to sometimes acts completely normal.

 

[azygous]

The neck extension is usually associated with a slow crop. It can sometimes extend to the gizzard. This can affect how much nutrition she's getting from her food, and this will affect her growth rate. The wing drooping additionally points to undernourishment causing her to be weak. It's crucial you intervene.

First, I suggest giving her a healthy one teaspoon dose of coconut oil directly into her beak. Chill slightly so it's firm and break off bits and slip them into her beak to swallow. Then give her a brief gentle crop massage.

She needs additional feeding that includes high protein foods such as boiled egg and crumbled tofu. Poultry Nutri-drench sprinkled over the top once a day will drench her system with important nutrients. When I have a slow chick, I feed them their supplemental feedings with the other chicks to stimulate their competitive response. They seem to eat more and better when kept with other chicks.

 

[Friendly_Lurker]

azygous is probably right, but the extending of the neck and opening her mouth might mean she had a respiratory issue. Good luck!

 

[MysteryChicken]

I'm not much help here, but that chick is a cockerel.

I wish your chick well.

 

[Azfra]

The neck extension is usually associated with a slow crop. It can sometimes extend to the gizzard. This can affect how much nutrition she's getting from her food, and this will affect her growth rate. The wing drooping additionally points to undernourishment causing her to be weak. It's crucial you intervene.

First, I suggest giving her a healthy one teaspoon dose of coconut oil directly into her beak. Chill slightly so it's firm and break off bits and slip them into her beak to swallow. Then give her a brief gentle crop massage.

She needs additional feeding that includes high protein foods such as boiled egg and crumbled tofu. Poultry Nutri-drench sprinkled over the top once a day will drench her system with important nutrients. When I have a slow chick, I feed them their supplemental feedings with the other chicks to stimulate their competitive response. They seem to eat more and better when kept with other chicks.

Thanks a lot for your message it is really helpful! Are you sure this is the issue with him/her? Because I don’t really know much about this area. If you are sure it is like this and not much more serious then please tell me as I don’t want it to die. Thanks a lot

 

[azygous]

You have to know that without actually seeing this chick and holding it and examining it, I can only make an educated guess what could be wrong. All I can go on is to compare it to under size chicks I've had and what treatment worked with them.

A slight case of pasty butt that you may not have even noticed could have begun to slow the crop and the rest of the digestive system. This could have started the snowball effect of symptoms leading to weakness and poor development.

Or a slight case of shipping stress could have done the same thing.

Or a genetic issue where underdeveloped organs could have led up to this chick's symptoms.

In every possible scenario, the treatment I spelled out for you should have a good chance of helping your chick. If it ends up not helping, it certainly will not hurt your chick to try it.

As @Friendly_Lurker mentioned, there could be another issue. If it is a respiratory illness, that could be very serious and require an antibiotic. You need to watch for the chick to develop breathing problems and discharge from eyes and beak. I prefer to treat for the more obvious problems before resorting to an antibiotic when there is a shortage of those kind of symptoms.

 

[Azfra]

You have to know that without actually seeing this chick and holding it and examining it, I can only make an educated guess what could be wrong. All I can go on is to compare it to under size chicks I've had and what treatment worked with them.

A slight case of pasty butt that you may not have even noticed could have begun to slow the crop and the rest of the digestive system. This could have started the snowball effect of symptoms leading to weakness and poor development.

Or a slight case of shipping stress could have done the same thing.

Or a genetic issue where underdeveloped organs could have led up to this chick's symptoms.

In every possible scenario, the treatment I spelled out for you should have a good chance of helping your chick. If it ends up not helping, it certainly will not hurt your chick to try it.

How can I express how helpful you have been, thanks so much
A while life may be saved on your behalf

 

[Azfra]

You have to know that without actually seeing this chick and holding it and examining it, I can only make an educated guess what could be wrong. All I can go on is to compare it to under size chicks I've had and what treatment worked with them.

A slight case of pasty butt that you may not have even noticed could have begun to slow the crop and the rest of the digestive system. This could have started the snowball effect of symptoms leading to weakness and poor development.

Or a slight case of shipping stress could have done the same thing.

Or a genetic issue where underdeveloped organs could have led up to this chick's symptoms.

In every possible scenario, the treatment I spelled out for you should have a good chance of helping your chick. If it ends up not helping, it certainly will not hurt your chick to try it.

As @Friendly_Lurker mentioned, there could be another issue. If it is a respiratory illness, that could be very serious and require an antibiotic. You need to watch for the chick to develop breathing problems and discharge from eyes and beak. I prefer to treat for the more obvious problems before resorting to an antibiotic when there is a shortage of those kind of symptoms.

Also about poultry nutri drench, that is not available in Australia ( where I live) is it required and is there any alternatives?