One suddenly lethargic chick (4 days old)

[EastJacket]

Hi all,

I received a 7 chick order from Meyer on Monday (very impressed with how great the chicks looked on arrival) and everyone looked excellent up until today. The Wyandotte is suddenly (as of this morning) acting very lethargic. No pasty butt (none of them have had any issues whatsoever), no diarrhea, is nibbling at food and water but falling asleep while doing it and then walking right back under the Ecoglow to sleep. She has fallen over on her back twice and I've had to right her both times, and is somewhat wobbly but looks like it's due to her being half asleep. I've also seen her mouth breathing while falling asleep, but this is not constant.

All the other chicks are happy with the heat, food, water, etc. Bedding is puppy pads with large pine shavings underneath, they've gotten a couple shaving flakes from under the pads but I don't think any have actually been eating them.

I started spoon-feeding her sugar water and sav-a-chick, but she still looks about the same.

Anyone have any other suggestions or similar experiences?

 

[EastJacket]

Update: slipped into a coma and died this afternoon, all the others are still doing great.

 

[azygous]

I sounds like the chick was a FTT, failure-to-thrive chick. These look and act very normal right after hatch, but by the time their yolk sac has absorbed, they lack the mature digestive systems to process calories from food efficiently. They are always cold, don't have the energy to eat on their own, and it snowballs from there. There really isn't much you can do for such a chick, but it's still very sad when you lose them. I'm sorry.

 

[EastJacket]

I sounds like the chick was a FTT, failure-to-thrive chick. These look and act very normal right after hatch, but by the time their yolk sac has absorbed, they lack the mature digestive systems to process calories from food efficiently. They are always cold, don't have the energy to eat on their own, and it snowballs from there. There really isn't much you can do for such a chick, but it's still very sad when you lose them. I'm sorry.

Thank you for the response, that sounds exactly like this chick. Of course no one wants to lose one, but knowing nothing could be done does lessen the sting.

 

[M Brennen]

So sorry you lost a chick. It seems there have been a few chicks in this same situation from what I have read over the past few weeks. I guess it is common to lose some, but I wonder if there is some issue with the breeders.

 

[Star2014]

What kind of Wyandotte did you have? One of ours from Meyer that we got this week sounds very similar but has held on for a bit longer.

 

[EastJacket]

What kind of Wyandotte did you have? One of ours from Meyer that we got this week sounds very similar but has held on for a bit longer.

She was a Golden-Laced, hatch date was 7/20. I didn't contact Meyer (not planning on another order this year and for a $4 chick, wasn't worth it). It is too bad though, she was so cute (loved the peanut butter swirl coloring).