New Chicks Acting Sick

[Clumsabella]

I apologize if this isn’t the right thread to post this to, but I just recently acquired two new chicks that are as of today 5 days old.

One is a red laced blue Wyandotte names Dumpling, and the other is an olive egger named Pickle. We began to notice a couple days ago that Dumpling was very small and weak, and we eventually had to separate her as she does not respond when the other chicks pick on her. We have been feeding her egg yolk, electrolyte water, and watered down yogurt in an attempt to get her to eat and drink on her own after we realized that she had not yet done either. She started with a solid green paste, which has transitioned to a watery white, as she has been getting only liquids and refuses to eat solids. She seems to be doing a little better now, and is always responsive when being picked up, and will peep loudly. I am still worried about her, however, since she is still very weak and does not stay awake or interact with her environment.

Pickle, in the last 6 hours, has begun panting, and at first I thought I just needed to bring the heat in the brooder down. When that did not work, I pulled her out and waited for her to cool down. She stopped panting with her beak open, but began breathing heavily enough to shake her whole body. She was eating and drinking normally, but she is beginning to act lethargic, and still panting as though she can’t get enough air? I did notice that when I turned her on her back, she made a crinkling noise akin to a crinkly dog toy. I have also been supplementing her water with electrolytes, though I’m worried it might be something beyond getting food and water into them.

What should I do? I really don’t want to lose these chicks, and while I know it happens, I would like to try everything in my power to make sure they get to be chickens. Does anyone know anything about what I’m seeing? Are there any tips or antibiotics that I may need to implement into my “plan”?

Thank you!!

 

[azygous]

You may have two different issues with these two chicks. One may be a failure-to-thrive victim while the other has crop or lung issues. The lungs are located on top of the back up close to the head, and the "crinkling" sounds are typical of a respiratory infection. But it could also have a crop issue or constipation.

Do you see any discharge from the eyes or beak? How about the tiny one?

You can try an antibiotic, but I can tell you from experience that once a chick reaches the point of lying down and gaping its beak, it usually doesn't have long to live.

The first thing I would do for both is to get some Poultry Nutri-drench into them. This is an intense vitamin therapy that works instantly to give a boost to the immune system and provides energy to fight off whatever is trying to beat them down. Ordinary baby vitamins, while being perfectly okay, take hours to make any difference since they need to go through the liver. A failure-to-thrive chick may not have a fully functioning liver or time to wait for vitamins to take effect.

Check the crops on both chicks. How does it feel? Is it full and very hard? Have you seen either of these chicks poop? If so, what does it look like? Do either if these chicks peep non-stop? How about when they try to poop? Does the peeping ratchet up?

 

[Clumsabella]

You may have two different issues with these two chicks. One may be a failure-to-thrive victim while the other has crop or lung issues. The lungs are located on top of the back up close to the head, and the "crinkling" sounds are typical of a respiratory infection. But it could also have a crop issue or constipation.

Do you see any discharge from the eyes or beak? How about the tiny one?

You can try an antibiotic, but I can tell you from experience that once a chick reaches the point of lying down and gaping its beak, it usually doesn't have long to live.

The first thing I would do for both is to get some Poultry Nutri-drench into them. This is an intense vitamin therapy that works instantly to give a boost to the immune system and provides energy to fight off whatever is trying to beat them down. Ordinary baby vitamins, while being perfectly okay, take hours to make any difference since they need to go through the liver. A failure-to-thrive chick may not have a fully functioning liver or time to wait for vitamins to take effect.

Check the crops on both chicks. How does it feel? Is it full and very hard? Have you seen either of these chicks poop? If so, what does it look like? Do either if these chicks peep non-stop? How about when they try to poop? Does the peeping ratchet up?

I have not seen any discharge from the eyes or nostrils of the chicks. For the smaller chick, her crop has not felt hard as she has not yet eaten any solid foods. The bigger one was eating normally until around 5pm yesterday, and has not eaten since. Her crop as far as I could tell was not hard, though it still felt like she had a little more food in there from yesterday.

The smaller chick was pooping a solid green, which makes sense as she hadn’t yet eaten or drank anything. However, she transitioned to a watery white poop around 7pm, and then a small brown “squirt” around 11pm. I have not seen anything else that hasn’t been in shavings, but I know she is still pooping. She does not cause a fuss when pooping, though I have had to clean off her butt five different times in the last two days as it sticks to the down around her vent very easily.

The bigger one was pooping normally as far as I could tell, just a solid brown, and no difficulty. This morning when I checked on her she did seem worse for the wear, and was doing the odd panting as though she were hot. She is a rather large chick, and I wondered it that had anything to do with it?

Regardless, I will be making a trip to my local feed store to see if they have the vitamins you mentioned. I am so grateful to your quick reply, and just want to thank you for your help so far!

 

[azygous]

I think we can rule out crop disorders and constipation. The small one is pooping out bile. It doesn't matter if she's eaten nothing since it's not waste. It indicates she may not possess the organs necessary to run her body efficiently. It's possible, though slim, that with vitamin help, she can rally. Offer her warm sugar water and minced boiled egg. Same with the other one. It could revive both.

Where do you have these chicks? Brooding indoors or outside in coop? How warm is it under the heat source? How warm is it farthest away from the heat source? What is your brooder substrate? Pine, cedar or straw? Other?

 

[Clumsabella]

I think we can rule out crop disorders and constipation. The small one is pooping out bile. It doesn't matter if she's eaten nothing since it's not waste. It indicates she may not possess the organs necessary to run her body efficiently. It's possible, though slim, that with vitamin help, she can rally. Offer her warm sugar water and minced boiled egg. Same with the other one. It could revive both.

Where do you have these chicks? Brooding indoors or outside in coop? How warm is it under the heat source? How warm is it farthest away from the heat source? What is your brooder substrate? Pine, cedar or straw? Other?

I have already offered the smaller one minced boiled egg, and she refuses to eat the small chunks. I will try more sugar water with both and get minced egg to the larger one. These chicks are being kept indoors, and they have a wide range or temperature should they be too hot. At the far end the temp is kept at about 97 degrees, and the other end is about 85, though they tend not to stray into that region of it yet. I believe our bedding is pine shavings, but I’ll make sure to check once I get the chance.

I will be seperating the weak chicks from the stronger ones today, and putting them in a different cage just in case, as I would like to negate the transmissions of any possibly diseases, and keep the weaker ones in a more comfortable environment away from picking chicks.

I do clean every Friday, so they aren’t sitting in their own waste, though the bedding is quite dusty at times so maybe that might be a problem? And there is a larger flock of 3 week old birds in the same room, though they are not held together and have not had any contact. The older birds have not exhibited any signs of illness, though I am a little wary still.

My local feed store does not have the vitamin supplements in stock, and the earliest I can get them is tomorrow. Is there a way to keep the chicks alive long enough to get them those vitamins, or is it a gamble?

Again, thank you so much for the quick feedback! I truly appreciate it!

 

[azygous]

It may not be the source of the problem, but your brooder is too hot. The high temp under the heat source should be 85 by the beginning of the second week, and the coolest spot should be no warmer than 70F.

You are weaning chicks off heat from the end of their second week. Most folks believe the weaning begins when they're feathered out. This is a misconception and hurts the chicks' ability to acclimate to cooler temps.

The size of your brooder can also prevent this temperature gradient. If chicks are kept too warm, and if the brooder is too small to have a place that's around 70, the chicks will not be able to shed excess heat, and they can sicken and even die.

If you can, try to fix this. If you move the two sick chicks into their own brooder, have the warm spot at around 85 and the cool spot at 70. Using a small light bulb is better than the big honking 250 watt cooker. I know the stores all sell these for the chicks, but in most cases, brooding indoors only requires a 100 watt bulb. 250 watt bulbs are for barns and chicken houses that aren't heated.

The sick chicks might do much better if you rigged a heating pad set on high so they can snuggle underneath like chicks under a hen. It will heat the small one especially much more efficiently. You can prop it up on a couple of wood scraps to form a lean-to.

 

[Clumsabella]

It may not be the source of the problem, but your brooder is too hot. The high temp under the heat source should be 85 by the beginning of the second week, and the coolest spot should be no warmer than 70F.

You are weaning chicks off heat from the end of their second week. Most folks believe the weaning begins when they're feathered out. This is a misconception and hurts the chicks' ability to acclimate to cooler temps.

The size of your brooder can also prevent this temperature gradient. If chicks are kept too warm, and if the brooder is too small to have a place that's around 70, the chicks will not be able to shed excess heat, and they can sicken and even die.

If you can, try to fix this. If you move the two sick chicks into their own brooder, have the warm spot at around 85 and the cool spot at 70. Using a small light bulb is better than the big honking 250 watt cooker. I know the stores all sell these for the chicks, but in most cases, brooding indoors only requires a 100 watt bulb. 250 watt bulbs are for barns and chicken houses that aren't heated.

The sick chicks might do much better if you rigged a heating pad set on high so they can snuggle underneath like chicks under a hen. It will heat the small one especially much more efficiently. You can prop it up on a couple of wood scraps to form a lean-to.

I will make sure to turn down the heat, though I don’t have a heating pad and my local feed store doesn’t sell them. Can I use warm water in a bag covered with a towel or the like? I know it’s not the best solution but it’s all I’ve got right now. Or is there another way I may be able to make a temporary mama hen?

 

[azygous]

The hot water bottle is a good immediate alternative. Make sure it's not so hot it burns. It water should be no hotter than 100 degrees. Create a lean-to with it wrapped in something soft, like polartec or flannel. The chicks should be able to touch their backs to it. It will create a "footprint" of heat on the floor under it of around 80F. That's perfect. Cover the whole thing creating a cave with a little opening.

Call around to pharmacies and ask if they have a stay-on heating pad. It doesn't matter if it's six settings, three or even just one. If it will remain on and not shut itself off, buy it. Feed stores do not sell these, although a few are starting to carry a version that is rigid. I have never used those. They are more expensive than heating pads, which are more easily molded into something rapidly growing chicks can utilize.

There are also ways to create a huddle box which capitalize on the chicks' own body heat, but these are for healthy chicks. Yours need a heat source because they may not be generating enough heat on their own due to being sick.

 

[Clumsabella]

The hot water bottle is a good immediate alternative. Make sure it's not so hot it burns. It water should be no hotter than 100 degrees. Create a lean-to with it wrapped in something soft, like polartec or flannel. The chicks should be able to touch their backs to it. It will create a "footprint" of heat on the floor under it of around 80F. That's perfect. Cover the whole thing creating a cave with a little opening.

Call around to pharmacies and ask if they have a stay-on heating pad. It doesn't matter if it's six settings, three or even just one. If it will remain on and not shut itself off, buy it. Feed stores do not sell these, although a few are starting to carry a version that is rigid. I have never used those. They are more expensive than heating pads, which are more easily molded into something rapidly growing chicks can utilize.

There are also ways to create a huddle box which capitalize on the chicks' own body heat, but these are for healthy chicks. Yours need a heat source because they may not be generating enough heat on their own due to being sick.

I will be on the lookout for a heating pad, but in the meantime I’ll get the temporary solution going. I am pretty sure I know what you mean by the setup, and will be trying that as soon as I get them moved into a separate, cooler cage.

 

[Clumsabella]

So about a week afterwards, and I realized I hadn't updated.

We got the nutri-drench and a heating pad, and stuck both in. Both chicks seemed to love the fake hen, and the nutridrench seemed to help for a little while. On Thursday, Dumpling passed away, most likely because she was just too weak. On Friday, Pickle seemed to be looking up, and was eating and drinking on her own, but then died overnight.

We now have a more complete chicken care cabinet though, with the addition of the nutridrench and heating pad. I want to thank you again for all the help I was given, as it seemed like they were comfortable when they passed.