New to forum & desperately needing help!! :( Sick chick!!

[Nicole95]

Hello all! I'm new to this forum and quite frankly new to chickens in general. After reading many posts under this section I'm hoping someone can help. I purchased six chicks two weeks ago. They're about two and a half weeks old now. They are Wyandottes. About two days ago I started noticing these symptoms in one of the chicks:

Loss of balance
Stumbling
Head crouched down
Laying down 90% of the time
Laying back on her haunches

I have NOT seen any of these symptoms:

Labored breathing
Drainage from eyes or beak/nose
Bloody poop

Additionally, she eats and drinks perfectly and her poop looks normal. She lays down to eat as well but she eats as much as the other chicks. Also, their feed isn't moldy. And they are on medicated chick starter.

She is a doll and I'm so hoping I don't lose her. I'm fearing Mareks disease. None of the chicks were vaccinated. Its awful to watch her stumble and fall and aside from those problems you would have no idea something was wrong with her. She is currently on electrolytes, probiotics, and terramycin (it was the most broad range antibiotic I knew of).

Any suggestions as to what this could be or what I could possibly do to help her??

Thanks to everyone so much!!

 

[loveourbirds]

what you are seeing could be anything from picking to tumors. we cant do much about the tumors (and they are common in poultry). I have a cure all, I tell a lot of people that seems to work well for me.

first off, remember you cant save every chick, if you raise 5 of the 6 your doing great.

move the chick to a separate area, make sure she has a nice warm light. make sure the waterer is clean and sanitized, add 1 tablespoon unpasteurized apple cider vinegar to 1 quart of water. or add 1 tablespoon sugar to 1 quart of water. neither of these will hurt the chick.

if she doesn't perk up in a couple of days, try adding corid to her water.

what this does,
apple cider vinegar helps with absorbtion by matching the ph of your water to your chicks needs.
sugar helps with hydration, and is a natural energy booster.
corid cures cocci. a common problem in chicks not raised by hens.

on another note, mereks is not very common, just a little harder to vaccinate against. so your chances of getting it on a first batch of chicks is very slim. if you have other chickens that have had it, then you should worry about the vaccination.

hope this helps ease your mind.

brian

 

[Nicole95]

Thank you for the reply! I will try the apple cider vinegar tomorrow. I feel like if it were cocci, she would be getting worse in a hurry? She is eating, drinking, and pooping normally. She's also very alert (she lays down most of the time but doesn't sleep any more than normal). Its so frustrating because she seems to be a normal healthy and happy chick, aside from the mobility issues

 

[CarolynF]

If she is already getting medicated feed I believe adding Corid is NOT recommended. Please check this out before over medicating her.

 

[loveourbirds]

in every group of chicks you will have a weak one, just do your best. if you need anything else (and its urgent) pm me. I will also keep an eye on this thread, so let me know how shes doing.

 

[loveourbirds]

If she is already getting medicated feed I believe adding Corid is NOT recommended. Please check this out before over medicating her.

this is very true, corid shouldn't be used unless its needed. most of the time its better to switch from chick starter to turkey starter (medicated). but if the chick has cocci bad enough to show the symptoms its a last resort. personally I would just give it to the sick chick unless you know you have cocci.

 

[casportpony]

Poop should look like this 95% of the time:





It should be well formed, the color of their food and have a little white at one end.

 

[casportpony]

Get yourself a digital kitchen scale and start weighing your chicks (see my avatar). At this age they should be gaining weight daily, so any loss would be a reason to worry.

 

[Zrcalo]

I would get vitamins to put in their water and separate the sick chick from the others. adding some sugar to the water wouldnt hurt. Just watch her and see if more symptoms pop up.