Problem baby chick!

[chuckachucka]

Ok so I posted about this chick before but the issue with him has evolved so I'm starting a new thread.

I ended up with a solo chick who hatched on Wednesday. He's a little booted bantam (sabelpoot) called Popcorn. I'm calling him a he even though I have no idea about sex yet, because he just seems like a he.

Anyway I've never raised a solo chick before and this is only the second time I've brooded chicks without a hen. The little guy went into the brooder straight after hatch on Wednesday and was very sleepy for the first 24 hours or so. I showed him where his water and food dishes were and made sure the heat lamp was at the right temperature and out paper towels down on the brooder floor with chick crumbs sprinkled on them.

By thursday afternoon I tried getting him out and feeding him moistened crumbs on my finger whilst making mother hen sounds. This worked and he ate a couple of tiny crumbs. I did this a couple of times and noticed he wasn't eating or drinking anything on his own. I was dipping his beak in water as well but he seemed to hate it.

Yesterday, when he was two days old, I figured his yolk should be running out and he should be eating better...but he wasn't. In the brooder he just sat or stood around under the lamp and never came out to eat or drink. The food bowls are right next to the lamp and I tried showing him and pecking at the food with my finger repeatedly. He would run over at my call and peck the crumbs but drop them and look confused. So I kept getting him out and feeding him water softened crumbs in my hands.

Today is the same. In the brooder he sleeps or stands around. When I get him out he is getting more energetic every day and eats the softened crumbs on the tabletop or on my hands. He still seems to hate drinking water. I realise I've probably got him into this bad eating habit but I tried leaving him in the brooder for several hours and he just didn't touch the food or water as far as I could tell.

So my issue is now two things. First, how can I get him to start eating and drinking on his own? I can't put the softened crumbs in the brooder because they just dry out with the warmth. And second, until he does, how many times per day should I be feeding him?

This is Popcorn

 

[chickens really]

He might be too warm?..Although Chicks that are too warm pant and flutter wings. Cold Chicks suffer starve out if too cold. They stand around. Put a thermometer at Chick height to get an actual reading of the Temp.

 

[azygous]

The little guy may need some vitamins to jump start possibly under-developed organs. Try finding Poultry Nutri-drench even if you need to order it off Amazon. Meanwhile, baby vitamins without iron will do.

Hogging the heat is a symptom of this under-development. Feeding him finely minced boiled egg may be what will tempt him to begin eating and begin to supply the calories he needs to generate body heat. Add sugar to his water for more calories. Try these things and I'm betting he will perk up and get with the program in short order.

 

[chuckachucka]

I haven't measured at chick height but the thermometer at floor level is always roughly 90. The lamp occupies around a quarter of the space in the brooder box and the temp on the far side of the box is 75ish. The food and water dishes are right outside the edges of the heat lamp. He sometimes stands up to be closer to the heat so is it maybe too cold instead of too hot?

 

[chuckachucka]

I will try to get him some vitamins. The strange thing is how he seems 'normal' when I handle him - he eats until his crop is big, poops, and then wants to snuggle and sleep again - but as soon as I put him back in the brooder, he turns into chick zombie. Could it just be that he's lonely in there? I put a mirror and a fluffy toy in there but it doesn't seem to have made a difference.

 

[PlymouthRockBBredSebright]

Okay, small meals often, sounds like you might have chilled him if he went STRAIGHT to the brooder out of the incubator. Chicks usually should stay in incubator until they are dry after hatching.

 

[azygous]

If his issue is under-developed organs, he isn't generating body heat due to malabsorption of nutrients. No matter how warm it is under the heat source, these chicks aren't able to get warm enough to be comfortable. He's content when being handled because you are transferring your own body heat directly to his body. A heating pad rigged so he can make direct contact with his back will heat him much more efficiently than a lamp.

Vitamins should help generate growth of the organs to remedy this. You should see improvement within a very short time if you start it right away.

 

[chuckachucka]

If his issue is under-developed organs, he isn't generating body heat due to malabsorption of nutrients. No matter how warm it is under the heat source, these chicks aren't able to get warm enough to be comfortable. He's content when being handled because you are transferring your own body heat directly to his body. A heating pad rigged so he can make direct contact with his back will heat him much more efficiently than a lamp.

Vitamins should help generate growth of the organs to remedy this. You should see improvement within a very short time if you start it right away.

Unfortunately, I worry you are probably right. I incubated him in my new homemade incubator that I was trying for the first time. Even though he hatched perfectly on day 21, I'm thinking there could have been some issues that have affected him.

 

[chickens really]

Seriously I think he is too Cold and it will starve out if not warm enough to move around..

 

[chickens really]

Okay, small meals often, sounds like you might have chilled him if he went STRAIGHT to the brooder out of the incubator. Chicks usually should stay in incubator until they are dry after hatching.

Not true. If temps are even getting them out is best..High humidity is hard on lungs.