OMG half froze chick, HELP...ASAP

[Ducklove334]

our 1 month old chicks have been outside for about 3 days now, and 1 by 1 we've lost atleast 6 to the cold

all the bantams, we havm't lost any turkens yet,

well now i've got this chick that I found laying in the pen half dead, I thought it was util I picked it up and it twitched, so I brought it inside and now it's under a heatlamp, it's becoming more responsive and standing now, but it still shivers and it's eyes are closed,

is there anything else I can do???

 

[speckledhen]

Yes, give them heat. They are too young at these temps to be in the cold. You didn't say if you had a heat lamp on them or not. All you can do is give it warm water and let it get warm again.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Unless your chicks are all the way feathered, they should not be outside in the cold at all. One month old is NOT old enough to be outside at all, unless it's very warm outside and then you have to worry about them getting too hot....I keep mine locked in the coop with several heat lamps (varying heights) until they are all fully-feathered. I have two different brooders (one with banties & one with standards) in the coop right now and those were hatched in September and they are still under lights.

Drafts & cold air will certainly keep killing your babies unless you do something to stop that.

As for the one you found 1/2 dead--get it warmed up and out of the cold. You can also rub it with a dry/warm towel and try to get the circulation going in it again...you'll also want to make sure it doesn't have an infection now (in it's lungs). So if he ends up sounding raspy or snotty, you'll want to get it some antibiotics for it's water...

GOOD LUCK!

 

[TaLani]

A lot of forum members wld probably recommend Poly-Sol vitamin drops that you can get at Wmart. Also, make sure it's drinking plenty of water - you may have to dip its beak into the water if it's not drinking voluntarily. Also, don't mean this to sound snotty but fyi - most forum members wld recommend that you don't turn out chicks until they're fully feathered which is around 10 wks. Hope your little one makes it.

 

[Ducklove334]

not by mine and Beccas doing, believe me, the only reason they're out so younf is because of her mother and grandparents complaining that they were in the house still


we wanted to wait until they were atleast 8 weeks old,

anyways, little dude is blinking now, he reacts when you touch him, and has chirped alittle.

 

[speckledhen]

They can be in the coop, but in cold weather, at that age, they do need supplemental heat.

 

[Ducklove334]

See, our *big* pen and coop arn't done yet, not even started, Beccas mom and grandfather took over the chickens. thus why we've got 16 in a crappy 12x16 pen. they chicks are in a smaller pen, Becca and I only wanted a few hens and a roo, but hey...


the chick is sitting and looking around now

he still shivers though

 

[jvls1942]

in the future.....and it may happen again accidentally,,,,,,when a young bird gets chilled, warm him back up SLOWLY.. a heat lamp can cook a young bird.. and do not rub it..
you might bruise it..

And no matter what grandma says, your responsibility is with the safety of the animals you own..

 

[country]

Can you at least put some lights in the pen for them? A clamp-on light is only about $6 at Home Depot & you can clamp it on the pen low enough so they can cuddle under it to get warm. Option 2 - do you have a dog or cat crate you can put them in at night so they can stay warm with their own body heat? If you use a light, wire some pieces of cardboard up in a corner by the light to keep out drafts. I can't even imagine putting those little things out to fend for themselves in cold weather at such a young age & I'm getting mad just thinking about it.

 

[Ducklove334]

just so you all know,

our birds to us are NOT livestock, they are are pets and previders(eggs and stuff), we care deeply for them,

these chicks, we've had them since they were a day old. so yeah, we do care about them as if we'd hatched them. we only want whats best for them.

thanks for all the help,

the chick is up and trying to walk around now, I really don't wanna toss it back out though! maybe it'll be house chicken! LMAO