Newly hatched chick gagging and possible splayed leg? PLEASE HELP

[Party_Chicken]

I went to go check on my newly hatched chicks today after I put them out in the brooder. One chick was laying down and barely moving I brought her inside and put her in the incubator. We tried to give her some water with electrolytes in it but after she drinks it she gags. We gave her some egg yolk and that went down smoothly. We are also thinking she might have splayed leg but I want to double check before I try and fix it.

 

[Obsessed With Silkies]

If the chick has already dried off I don't think you'd have to put it back in the incubator. Do you have pictures?

 

[Party_Chicken]

She had splayed leg and we treated it with the band aid method and she seems much better

 

[Obsessed With Silkies]

That's good to hear

 

[Party_Chicken]

We thought she was getting better so we put her out with her out in the brooder and she became so weak she could barely move she passed away yesterday.

 

[Obsessed With Silkies]

Awww, I'm so sorry to hear that! You know you did all that you could to help and that's all that matters. Sometimes things like this happen; I hatched a chick last year that had a slipped tendon and what appeared to be other health issues. I was disappointed at myself when it passed but I knew I did all I could and that's what matters.

 

[Party_Chicken]

Awww, I'm so sorry to hear that! You know you did all that you could to help and that's all that matters. Sometimes things like this happen; I hatched a chick last year that had a slipped tendon and what appeared to be other health issues. I was disappointed at myself when it passed but I knew I did all I could and that's what matters.

Thank you

 

[NorthFLChickenChick]

I went to go check on my newly hatched chicks today after I put them out in the brooder. One chick was laying down and barely moving I brought her inside and put her in the incubator. We tried to give her some water with electrolytes in it but after she drinks it she gags. We gave her some egg yolk and that went down smoothly. We are also thinking she might have splayed leg but I want to double check before I try and fix it.

Hi…I found this thread by googling “day old chick dies after drinking water”…because that’s literally what just happened to me I raised chickens in Maryland for 3 years and only lost one at 11 months (a silkie) due to what we can only deduce to be a heart attack(it was a 50 degree foggy evening, she had already laid an egg, no signs of trauma and no signs of coccidosis in my flock, no other birds died before or after her. We rehomed our girls before relocating to FL last summer and decided to start a new flock this spring. We bought our first 10 babies 3 weeks ago from a wonderful family farm that is impeccable clean with vaccinated birds raised on nonGMO feeds, and all 10 chicks are thriving. Today they had silkies for the first time so we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to grab three for our flock plus a lavender Orpington . Once we got them home we put the new babies in their own brooder with special feed and water treated w probiotic (sav-a-chick) and did our first round of pasty bum checks. The black and buff silkies had a little dried pasties which we gently removed, and they seemed to be adjusting well, eating and drinking in their new home. I did notice that the black silkie was drinking quite a bit of water, but we had a 30 minute drive home from the farm and it is Florida (hot/humid), so I didn’t think much of it. We took care of our other birds for about 30 minutes, freshening their water and food and bedding, and then the Orpington started chirping the distress chirp. I thought my lamp needed adjusted and look over and saw the little black silkie struggling next to the feeder, laying spread eagle with foam coming out of her mouth and breathing rapidly. I’m an adult ER nurse, so I just did what I would do with a baby and tried stimulating her crop , and more mucous and fluid came out, soaking her. I got a tissue and put her next the lamp trying to stimulate her and was blowing on her beak and cheeks but she was just a floppy rag doll. I know that silkies are so fragile but geesh…this one only lasted an hour??? Now I’m watching the other two like a hawk and the poor things can’t even get sleep because I’m so afraid that they are dead…and my little Orpington likes to make the distress call just to get picked up, in true orping style.

I’m wondering if the chick got water intoxication or aspirated? These are things that can happen to humans, but not sure about chicks?

 

[Obsessed With Silkies]

Hi…I found this thread by googling “day old chick dies after drinking water”…because that’s literally what just happened to me I raised chickens in Maryland for 3 years and only lost one at 11 months (a silkie) due to what we can only deduce to be a heart attack(it was a 50 degree foggy evening, she had already laid an egg, no signs of trauma and no signs of coccidosis in my flock, no other birds died before or after her. We rehomed our girls before relocating to FL last summer and decided to start a new flock this spring. We bought our first 10 babies 3 weeks ago from a wonderful family farm that is impeccable clean with vaccinated birds raised on nonGMO feeds, and all 10 chicks are thriving. Today they had silkies for the first time so we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to grab three for our flock plus a lavender Orpington . Once we got them home we put the new babies in their own brooder with special feed and water treated w probiotic (sav-a-chick) and did our first round of pasty bum checks. The black and buff silkies had a little dried pasties which we gently removed, and they seemed to be adjusting well, eating and drinking in their new home. I did notice that the black silkie was drinking quite a bit of water, but we had a 30 minute drive home from the farm and it is Florida (hot/humid), so I didn’t think much of it. We took care of our other birds for about 30 minutes, freshening their water and food and bedding, and then the Orpington started chirping the distress chirp. I thought my lamp needed adjusted and look over and saw the little black silkie struggling next to the feeder, laying spread eagle with foam coming out of her mouth and breathing rapidly. I’m an adult ER nurse, so I just did what I would do with a baby and tried stimulating her crop , and more mucous and fluid came out, soaking her. I got a tissue and put her next the lamp trying to stimulate her and was blowing on her beak and cheeks but she was just a floppy rag doll. I know that silkies are so fragile but geesh…this one only lasted an hour??? Now I’m watching the other two like a hawk and the poor things can’t even get sleep because I’m so afraid that they are dead…and my little Orpington likes to make the distress call just to get picked up, in true orping style.

I’m wondering if the chick got water intoxication or aspirated? These are things that can happen to humans, but not sure about chicks?

I'm not sure but from what I understand you added two different solutions to the water? I try to avoid putting stuff like that in chick water except for occasional vitamins and electrolytes. I've never heard of this before so I'm not sure.

 

[NorthFLChickenChick]

I'm not sure but from what I understand you added two different solutions to the water? I try to avoid putting stuff like that in chick water except for occasional vitamins and electrolytes. I've never heard of this before so I'm not sure.

Hi there, thanks for reaching out! I actually just added a packet of save-a-chick probiotic to a gallon of water…That’s what I always use for my day old chicks for the first week to help with the pasty butt…usually works pretty well.

I did contact the farm owner as I’ve purchased lots of chicks from them and they guarantee the health of their birds for the first week. I described what happened and sent a video snippet. The owner said it looked like a failure of the chick to properly develop its crop so that it could digest food/water down to the gizzard….something that occurs in a small percentage of chicks, like a congenital anomaly. He did offer to replace the chick at no cost, but since they had a special on silkies and I had already received a free one and had two others that were doing great, I decided to hold steady with the two others who were doing great…they didn’t need any more stress. We only had her for an hour but she was a sweet little black Silkie whom we named Dolly, and I suppose she’s crossed that Rainbow Bridge and is snuggling w our white Silkie, Violet whom we lost at 11 months. She was always broody and wanted to be a momma