New chick that's not active.

[Lady Chickadee]

We have 20 new chicks. 10 bantams and 10 standard sizes. We have one that we think is a easter egger and hes not eating or drinking. We dipped his beak in the water and he will drink if we do that but we have to hold him. When ever we set him down he just lays there and closes his eyes while all the others run around acting crazy. Is there anything we can do to help him or is he just tired and sleeping from the long trip here? Hes also a little wobbly.

 

[Lady Chickadee]

I just noticed that her feet are a little weird looking. She will spread her toes out sometimes but most of the time they look like this:

I tried to get a good picture but it didn't turn out to well,sorry.
(One foot also seems worse than the other. Could this be why shes not walking around? When she moves she kinda like crawls or wobbles and sometimes falls over.)

 

[yinepu]

do you have any electrolytes or sugar in their water?..

 

[Lady Chickadee]

Yes I am giving them sugar water.

 

[yinepu]

well.. if the sugar water won't perk her up he may just be a "failure to thrive" chick.. you CAN try giving him some polyvisol (baby vitamins without iron) .. and see if that helps any.. but usually if the sugar water won't perk them up then they have other issues and won't survive .. for now i would keep giving him the sugar water and add some of the vitamins if you have them around..
when was he hatched?

 

[Lady Chickadee]

Thanks. So you don't think anythings wrong with her feet? She was hatched Wednesday, I guess. I got them from Cackle hatchery and they shipped Wednesday.

 

[yinepu]

i cant be sure from the pic.. since she's weak it could just be the way she is standing

 

[Lady Chickadee]

Okay, when we gave her some more sugar water and put her back in with the others she ran over to one of the other chicks and laid down next to her so shes making some progress.

 

[Wildflower_VA]

Keep encouraging the weak chick to drink water. One of my chicks that arrived with pasty butt (caused in part by dehydration) was terribly wobbly and sleepy, but after fixing the pasty butt, I dipped her beak several times in electrolyte water and finally she stood there by the waterer and drank on her own for at least five minutes straight, so I think she was just extremely dehydrated. She perked up right after drinking a lot, then ran over and started eating.

Dehydration can cause muscle spasms and tightening, so that might be what is drawing up her feet. Add a little salt to the sugar water. Loss of sodium due to dehydration causes the most problems.

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
progress is always good.. just keep getting her to drink and keep her warm.. hopefully she will get an appetite and start eating some on her own