- Jan 30, 2019
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Long post ahead. Sorry!
My sweet girl Franny hatched 5 baby chicks some time yesterday (I didn't realize til I got home that evening) and immediately I noticed that one of them wasn't doing to well. When Franny got up to get food, the others chased her everywhere she went, but this little one remained lying on the ground not moving. When I went to check on them, they perked up and immediately tried to nustle under mama's wings again.
I noticed that this little guy could only stand for a matter of seconds before falling back to the lying position with closed eyes. Franny wasn't too careful and stepped on the poor thing a few times and that solidified my decision to bring the chick inside. I set up a heating pad (designed for animals) with a towel cocoon of sorts on top to try and mimick the feeling of being in mom's wings, and the chick nustled in immediately and fell asleep.
If I'm being completely honest, I wasnt expecting the chick to survive until today, but the little guy did. Unfortunately, the symptoms remained the same. The chick can muster up enough energy to call out for mom for a bit, but can't remain standing for longer than a second or two. Even when standing, half the time I noticed that the eyes are still closed. I managed to get the chick to eat some egg yolk and drink some electrolyte water a few times today, but they haven't started trying to eat and drink on their own. The chick spends most of the time lying in it's little cocoon unmoving.
I'm wondering if anyone knows what could be happening here and if there's anything I'll be able to do. I've tried to do some of my own research, but every answer I've found has been for human incubated eggs, and that's not what happened here. So far, none of the other chicks have shown any signs of being ill. I don't know if this is relevant, but this is Franny's second batch of chicks; however she has struggled to lay viable or surviving eggs in the past.
My sweet girl Franny hatched 5 baby chicks some time yesterday (I didn't realize til I got home that evening) and immediately I noticed that one of them wasn't doing to well. When Franny got up to get food, the others chased her everywhere she went, but this little one remained lying on the ground not moving. When I went to check on them, they perked up and immediately tried to nustle under mama's wings again.
I noticed that this little guy could only stand for a matter of seconds before falling back to the lying position with closed eyes. Franny wasn't too careful and stepped on the poor thing a few times and that solidified my decision to bring the chick inside. I set up a heating pad (designed for animals) with a towel cocoon of sorts on top to try and mimick the feeling of being in mom's wings, and the chick nustled in immediately and fell asleep.
If I'm being completely honest, I wasnt expecting the chick to survive until today, but the little guy did. Unfortunately, the symptoms remained the same. The chick can muster up enough energy to call out for mom for a bit, but can't remain standing for longer than a second or two. Even when standing, half the time I noticed that the eyes are still closed. I managed to get the chick to eat some egg yolk and drink some electrolyte water a few times today, but they haven't started trying to eat and drink on their own. The chick spends most of the time lying in it's little cocoon unmoving.
I'm wondering if anyone knows what could be happening here and if there's anything I'll be able to do. I've tried to do some of my own research, but every answer I've found has been for human incubated eggs, and that's not what happened here. So far, none of the other chicks have shown any signs of being ill. I don't know if this is relevant, but this is Franny's second batch of chicks; however she has struggled to lay viable or surviving eggs in the past.
