Nutridrench for baby chicks dosage questions

[Bug n Flock]

We got 44 shipped chicks on Friday, our first time with shipped chicks. We lost 1 of the 2 turkey poults early on, but most other baby poultry seem to be doing well. We have 2 chicks we are on the fence about. Both banties(I think). One is a game bantie I think, and it has minor splay leg. It has corrected somewhat on its own, but we need to pull the chick out and hobble it. hobbling it in the main brooder just gets it mercillessly pecked. One looks like a gold laced wyandotte bantie, and is kind of dumb. Can't seem to figure out how to eat. Will peck around near food but not quite eat. It has to be succeeding at eating something, though, or it would be dead by now. These chicks hatched a week ago today(shipping day was delayed due to weather) and a week is too long to live while not eating anything, I think. Anyway.

We have been doing a drop or two of nutridrench direct in the beak when we think they need a pep up, and yesterday put ACV and nutridrench in the water, but are not sure on dose. Bottle says 4oz/gallon with young chicks, but that seems absurd, that is the whole bottle! We did 2 dropperfulls per gallon in each of the waterers and all the babies seemed to like it... is this an adequate dose or should we do more?

And we will pull and hobble the splay chick today. Honestly we should have set up a "weak chick" brooder ages ago, but we have been very very busy and I only recently suffered a severe metatarsal fracture so we are basically down to only my fiancee being able to do outdoor farm chores atm and we are behind on a lot going into springtime. Why couldn't I have broken my foot over winter? Why just heading into our first spring on the farm?????!!! Auug bad timing sucks. At least I have the 49(chicken math, we bought 6 baby ducks at tsc because the 3 shipped ones were lonely hahahaha) brooder fuzzlings for company, tho these poultry are going to end up insufferably tame with how much I have been holding and playing with them.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

One is a game bantie I think, and it has minor splay leg. It has corrected somewhat on its own, but we need to pull the chick out and hobble it. hobbling it in the main brooder just gets it mercillessly pecked. One looks like a gold laced wyandotte bantie, and is kind of dumb. Can't seem to figure out how to eat. Will peck around near food but not quite eat. It has to be succeeding at eating something, though, or it would be dead by now. These chicks hatched a week

We have been doing a drop or two of nutridrench direct in the beak when we think they need a pep up, and yesterday put ACV and nutridrench in the water, but are not sure on dose. Bottle says 4oz/gallon with young chicks, but that seems absurd, that is the whole bottle!

Sorry to hear about your injury, I hope you heal quickly.

Your question about the Nutri-Drench - yes, you should follow the directions on the bottle, yes, that's a lot - half the bottle! Some people add enough Nutr-Drench to their water to make it look like a weak tea, I do not know how much that is.... Normally I just direct dose chicks for a few days at hatch or when they arrive, they get plain cold NC well water for the rest of the time. Since you have so many chicks, direct dosing them would not be practical. Personally...I would leave off the ACV, but that's up to you.
You may want to investigate powdered vitamins/electrolytes like Durvet which will probably give you more bang for your buck, you should be able to find 8oz packages on Amazon or at TSC.

You mention you have 2 chicks you are concerned about. One with splay leg, hopefully you will be able to correct that. It would be good to make sure that little one gets some B2 (Riboflavin) which is not in PND - since she is separated out with the other one, just crush up 1/4 tablet B-Complex vitamin and add it to the feed - it won't hurt them.

The Wyandotte, you feel is dumb. She must be eating something like you say. Chicks peck at feed and bedding just to explore, but you may want to watch her really closely - can she see well? If she is a bantam, then larger pieces of food may be hard for her to manage and what you think is her being dumb is she is picking up feed dust or the smallest pieces she can find. Try giving her wet feed (soaked chick starter) and she if she does any better.

 

[Bug n Flock]

They have soaked feed, hydro hen(or sometimes sugar or sometimes plain water or sometimes acv and the bit of nutri drench), FF, and dry feed. Usually dry and soaked or dry and FF at the same time. They always have some type of wet and some type of dry food. The bird is not pecking at food dust I do not see, it is pecking awkwardly at the air, at the feeder, etc etc etc when it is obviously trying to eat. We dip the beak in the wet food when it seems weak and that is usually around when the pecking starts.

The chicks really like the FF. And 4 oz isn't half the bottle, it is the whole bottle! For each gallon of water given! We have 2 1 gal waterers going at a time, it's crazy. Plus, only the 2 are questionable, so it seems silly to dose them all at such a high level, IDK.

We will do the vitamins for the ICU chicks tho, good call. Next time a trip to town is done we will get some.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

The bird is not pecking at food dust I do not see, it is pecking awkwardly at the air, at the feeder, etc etc etc when it is obviously trying to eat.

That's a lot of choices. Sounds like you've thought of it all.

Give the 2 chicks in question a direct dose of the PND 1-2drops daily if you wish, no need to make a whole gallon when you have all that other stuff available.

Pecking at the air sounds like Wry Neck which is a neurological symptom - some causes are genetics, vitamin E deficiency, injury/trauma and disease like Marek's. Too young for Marek's, so see that the chick get Vitamin E.
You may also want to test to see if she can see - does she react to fingers near her eyes- have you looked at her eye to see if there is anything odd about them.
Could also be a cause of failure to thrive since this baby has been getting extra care and needs to be prodded to eat/drink.

 

[Bug n Flock]

I will check her out for blindness. What gives me hope is the weakness isn't constant. Sometimes I have to search to find her in the brooder because she is just acting like any old chick. And sometimes she is weak, droopy wings and head, sleeping, and under the light. Thats when we do the nutridrench and beak dip usually. And several hours to overnight later and she is acting like a mostly normal chick again for a while. Shrug, if she makes it maybe we will call her Enigma.

As for the splay chick, we are also currently treating a nearly 2 month old budgie for splay leg right now. Seems fitting that my first 2 splay chicks are while I too am in a brace.

I relate, little guys, I relate....

Turns out we have a day and a half of rain coming(low water bridge over a easily flooding creek is the only way in to our farm), so a trip to town is in the stars for today.

Vit. E, B complex, brewers dried yeast(for the 9 ducklings). Anything else you think we should pick up? We are not without experience completely(and have read up a whole lot!), but we are still new to poultry, and chickens especially.