Sebright chick acting lethargic

Ariel301

Songster
10 Years
Nov 14, 2009
1,355
28
151
Kingman Arizona
I went out to check the chicks in the barn and turn their lamp on for the night a few hours ago, and found one, a five week old Sebright, laying by itself in a corner of their area. The others were huddled around the lamp waiting for me to turn it on for them, but she was alone, sprawled across the bedding with her wings out, and breathing hard. I brought her inside, and she spent the first hour or so shivering and flopping onto one side. It seemed like she did not have the energy to stand up, or she couldn't balance maybe. One of her feet seems sort of...off...too, like it does not have as much muscle tone as it should. The other is normal. She also does not seem to care about folding her wings back in if I stretch them out, she will just sit that way. She is still shivering, and feels cold to the touch. I have her wrapped in a towel sitting in front of a heater. She just seems very sleepy and lethargic. I cannot see any blood or injuries, and it does not feel like she has any broken bones anywhere. She does not have pasty butt, and her crop seems fine. It feels empty. She has pooped twice since bringing her in, and they look normal, although a bit large. She doesn't like to keep her eyes open, or hold her head up. I have been giving her some warm water with honey in it every half hour or so, and she will only drink if I dip her beak in it, and even then does not seem interested. She was perfectly normal this afternoon, and all the other chicks are fine. Is she maybe just hypothermic? I'm keeping her inside for the night, and I hope she makes it! We've named this one Lucky because she survived three rounds of pasty butt her first week where we did not think she would live. All the chicks had bad pasty butt their first week, which cleared up when we switched them to a medicated starter. I don't know if they were sick and it helped, or was just a coincidence, or if that is even related to this at all. The only other thing I can think of is that maybe she got up on top of something and jumped off, trying to fly and whacked her head on something...
 
She perked up some, by midnight she actually jumped out of her brooder because I think she was too hot. This morning at 9 she started making a foamy crackling sound when she breathed, and then died around 11. I'm thinking aspiration pneumonia. I had changed their waterer to a bigger one because they were emptying it too fast, and when I went out to feed the others, I found one more soaking wet, and another face down dead in the waterer. Guess they were not ready for a bigger one yet.
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It always seems to happen to the pullets too! We are now way overloaded on roosters compared to pullet chicks!
 

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