PLEASE HELP!!!! Baby chick isnt feathering!

[ChickenWisperer]

I have two baby chicks, a newhampsire red X buff orpington cockerel and a pure bred cuckoo maran poullet. There were MAJOR problems with there hatching, with the humidity. One baby, anouther mixed chick, died from abnormalities. When Cairo(mixed) and Ashi(cuckoo) started growing withought henderence, i thought nothing of it. But now, Ashi is starting to vigorusly shake her head. She seems disinterested in things sometimes, and usually stares around when cairo is pecking, scratching and generally just acting normal. They both sneeze, quite often. Also, ashi's feathers seem to be "distressed" or "unravelling" and will not stay together, and look as if they've been pulled apart, especially along the inner wing area. In fact, on her right shoulder there is a patch that is completely unfeatherd! He other shoulder has much more feathering. They both groom regularly, and both eat and drink quite alot. They are given normal water now (were given water with growth suppliment/electrolyte formula) and are still on starter feed. Part of Ashi's feet are a black color.........a color i did not notice with my last cuckoo maran. She also died of sickness, but that was awhile ago....and they are of no relation. They have a natural shredded pine bedding. Their droppings appear normal most of the time, but are sometimes alittle runny. Ashi also appears to have a small beak malformation, in the fact that her upper and lower beak dont touch completely.

Today: Cairo has been doing the very high pitched and loud squalling all day, but when we go down there, there is nothing wrong. Ashi seems to be getting less and less vocal.

Is there something wrong with my babies? What can i do? Please help, i want my babies to be okay!

 

[Chicken_whisperer]

Sounds like the humidity gave all the chicks birth defects. Although they are not as severe to cause them to die, it seems like that they have brain damage which may be causing the head-thrashing, lack of interest, and confusion.

Also, make sure Ashi can eat her food. If she has problems with her beak not closing completly, she could have problems eating. I would also give them antibiotics or medicated feed, in case they have an infection or virus.

But I have never PERSONALY delt with hatching chicks, so I can only tell you what I have read in my books. I don't know what else to do except give them extra-special care.

 

[d.k]

* You need to be very, very careful that their feed and bedding stay dry. This could be botulism or sour, yeasty, wet food mold symtoms-- or, it could be due to congenital neurological defects. Vit. E can help sometimes with mild neurological problems-- but correct dosing in very young chicks kinda concerns me as vit e is a fairly powerful blood thinner.

 

[ChickenWisperer]

Thanks so much guys. I'll look into it, and see what i can find about vitamin E. Their bedding is quite dry, they are checked on mutiple times on a daily basis, i dont know if they've eaten any moldy food or not, but i will check my feed. She seems to be eating fine - i know she can drink, i will watch her eat more thouroughly. I feared that. I'll check into getting some antibiotics. Perhaps i should see about vaccinating them?

They've both been crying for some time now - does anyone know why they are doing this?