Please help! New chick mom☺️

[CarneyChicks]

If this chick doing the neck roll is still doing it, and the crop doesn't seem to be emptying, (it should be empty first thing in the morning and full at night before dark) very gently with the tip of your finger, massage the tiny crop in a downward motion. You should be able to actually feel the crop emptying.

When the crop isn't emptying on its own, a chicken will do the neck roll trying to dislodge the contents so they start to move. You can help her do this by massaging the crop.

This happens from time to time with older chickens, too, so now you know what it means when they do it.

It's not always a sign of a serious problem. Sometimes, the contents of the crop are just of the texture that they get stuck. If you notice this soon enough simple massage can help, but after they've been allowed to solidify, you then have impacted crop and olive oil is the best treatment for this. Again, with crop massage to help the contents break up and go down.

Very rarely a chick will eat shavings and they'll get the crop in this "stuck" condition. Usually lots of water will resolve it on its own, but you may need to intervene with your chick if doing the massage alone doesn't solve the problem.

Thabk you for the reply. She doesn't drink like the others do. They all take constant water breaks. This little one will eat then nap. Eat then nap. I sat here for an hour earlier and she never drank. I appreciate all the information so I always know what to look for.

 

[azygous]

Not drinking at all? Are you sure? This is a big problem. It is probably dehydrated.

If the chick is eating, you can make a soupy mixture of warm water and chick crumbles. Did you get some Poultry Nutri-drench? Tofu? Tofu is high in water content. You need to get nutrients into this chick as well as water. Be very careful you supervise this soupy meal or the chicks will go swimming in it. Some have been known to drown, so watch them carefully. I say "them" because you can feed this to all of them if the chick won't eat when you try to feed her away from the others.

It's a mystery why the chick isn't drinking. Have you tried dipping her beak in water?

 

[CarneyChicks]

Not drinking at all? Are you sure? This is a big problem. It is probably dehydrated.

If the chick is eating, you can make a soupy mixture of warm water and chick crumbles. Did you get some Poultry Nutri-drench? Tofu? Tofu is high in water content. You need to get nutrients into this chick as well as water. Be very careful you supervise this soupy meal or the chicks will go swimming in it. Some have been known to drown, so watch them carefully. I say "them" because you can feed this to all of them if the chick won't eat when you try to feed her away from the others.

It's a mystery why the chick isn't drinking. Have you tried dipping her beak in water?

I have been dipping her beak in the water. When prompted sometimes she will sometimes she won't. I feel bad pushing her because she is so exhausted and wants to sleep. I am scared I am stressing her out. Now her new thing is when she poops she is chirping very loudly like it hurts or something. Tonight for the first time I watched her go get a drink by herself. Trust me. I am out there with them more than anything. I haven't even watched any shows in a week because chick TV is all I want

This has been so fun. Maybe she will be ok. I can just tell such a big difference in her compared to all the others. Right now her name is peanut. If she makes it we will call her miracle

 

[azygous]

She is probably chirping because it hurts to poop because she's becoming constipated. It's imperative you get water down her. Try the tofu and the VERY wet crumbles.

She's losing ground from your description of her behavior. Do not be timid about this. She is already more stressed from possible dehydration than anything you can do to her.

There's a threshold you need to get past. If you can get her to eat the tofu and wet crumbles, she'll get hydrated and get more strength. Then you will see her begin to drink water on her own.

There's another direction this can go and you have to fight against it. She can survive this if YOU can be brave and follow through. Do it now or she will quickly lose what little strength she has left to eat, and then the end will be quick.

 

[CarneyChicks]

She is probably chirping because it hurts to poop because she's becoming constipated. It's imperative you get water down her. Try the tofu and the VERY wet crumbles.

She's losing ground from your description of her behavior. Do not be timid about this. She is already more stressed from possible dehydration than anything you can do to her.

There's a threshold you need to get past. If you can get her to eat the tofu and wet crumbles, she'll get hydrated and get more strength. Then you will see her begin to drink water on her own.

There's another direction this can go and you have to fight against it. She can survive this if YOU can be brave and follow through. Do it now or she will quickly lose what little strength she has left to eat, and then the end will be quick.

I took her 4 times to the waterer and she drank!! I was so excited! I have also switched over to wet crumbles. For the first time and hour later I watched her flap her wings to get over another bird

I cannot say how much I appreciate your advice. I was so worried about forcing her thinking I might just be prolonging the inevitable. Know what I mean? What I don't understand is she makes it to the food but not the water?? I don't get that part. I could see if she was doing neither but to take food and ignore the waterer is weird to me. I have now let her go back to sleep. I will make sure she drinks consistently tomorrow to see if there is a difference. Her poops look really good!

 

[CarneyChicks]

I still can't find the poultry drench you are talking about.

 

[Blooie]

Well, I'll be jiggered, azygous! Tofu! Brilliant! That's a trick I'm going to file away in my "just in case" memory bank for sure. You ARE good! I had a chick that did the neck weaving thing in last year's batch. I didn't know what to do, or even how to ask the question on here back then. So I just kept picking her up and rubbing that "lump" down in the evening. I didn't even know what I was doing or why I was doing it. She did it a few times and each time I did the same thing. And she recovered. She's now known as Agatha - Scout's mom. Thanks! I'll remember this if I run into it again!

 

[azygous]

Great news! So relieved to hear she's drinking and showing signs of improvement. You don't want to really know how close you were to losing her!

Now your job is to keep encouraging her to drink until you see her doing it regularly on her own. It's a very good sign she's pooping and they look normal! Poop is the best sign you have that a chicken is healthy or not. It reads like a road map.

You should be able to find Poultry Nutri-drench at the same place you buy chicken feed. I would continue with the wet crumbles and tofu for a while longer, maybe another day or two until she becomes just as active as the others.

 

[CarneyChicks]

The little stinker wants nothing to do with the wet crumbles. The buff Orpington and 2 barred rocks loved it but I could get her to even look at it. I'm going to work with her all day today and tomorrow and hopefully she will catch on. I know I was close to loosing her. I could tell. It was so hard to see

when I called Farm and Fleet the girl said she had never heard of poultry drench. I am going in there today to make sure. With her poop and making noises, she is not constipated ad actually it sounds more like she is singing than chirping. Weird thank you so much for helping me through this. Hopefully I can get her healthy

 

[azygous]

You pulled her back from the brink but she isn't out of the woods yet. Have you tried the tofu? You have to crumble it up with your fingers to make it appealing, but chicks adore it. You need to get the moisture into her somehow if she won't eat the moistened crumbles. Tofu is made from the same main ingredient in chick feed but it's fermented so it is easily digested and makes available to her system more nutrients than dry crumbles.

In fact, you could try fermenting some chick crumbles and see if she'll eat them in that form. It will take two days to ferment, but you can start feeding it after just 24 hours. Just cover a cup of chick crumbles with warm water and add just a dash of ACV (unfiltered apple cider vinegar) Keep in a warm place. It should be the consistency of oatmeal. All chickens love the pungent taste and it's like tofu in having natural probiotics.

Have you called other feed stores to ask about the Nutri-drench? Maybe a pet emporium like PetSmart?