Shaking head

[zxsaaaw]

My little chick is shaking her head every second from side to side and seems to have food in her crop - she is a week old and has eaten oats and chick feed. I massaged the crop and it seems hard-ish but the food can be moved around in there. I am scared for her as her sister died today (lethargic, not eating or drinking) and I don’t want her to too. She eats and drinks fine. Should I buy apple cider vinegar? We have malt vinegar but I’m not sure it would be the same. What is wrong with her?

 

[DobieLover]

My little chick is shaking her head every second from side to side and seems to have food in her crop - she is a week old and has eaten oats and chick feed. I massaged the crop and it seems hard-ish but the food can be moved around in there. I am scared for her as her sister died today (lethargic, not eating or drinking) and I don’t want her to too. She eats and drinks fine. Should I buy apple cider vinegar? We have malt vinegar but I’m not sure it would be the same. What is wrong with her?

Sorry you lost a chick.
Can you upload a video of her to YouTube and post a link here?
Do you have chick grit available to them? Is she pooping okay?
Can you post pictures of the brooder setup?

 

[zxsaaaw]

Sorry you lost a chick.
Can you upload a video of her to YouTube and post a link here?
Do you have chick grit available to them? Is she pooping okay?
Can you post pictures of the brooder setup?

She is pooping fine (just did a minute ago) and I don’t have any chick grit. The chick feed is hard and like little bits of grit (not a substitute of course just describing the food). The brooder is a metal heating plate one.
Her head shaking is really frequent and like quick side to side like trying to shake something off

 

[BigBlueHen53]

The grit is necessary for digestion. It's my understanding that if you feed anything other than the chick feed, they need grit. I'm sorry you lost a chick.

 

[aart]

she is a week old and has eaten oats

Like rolled oats?
Stick with just the chick feed and plain water.
Might give her a sliver or two of coconut oil to lubricate things.

 

[ShannonR]

Oat hulls stuck in the crop maybe.

 

[zxsaaaw]

OK I will stop giving oats. My chicks are scaring me though. They seem quite tired, one in particular, and I'm scared that they are ill and going to die like my other chick. Two that I noticed have poop that is normal colour and all but seems a tiny bit foamy. After researching this it scared me more. Please help!

 

[aart]

OK I will stop giving oats.

What kind of oats did you give it?
Instant oatmeal, rolled oats, whole oats?

 

[zxsaaaw]

What kind of oats did you give it?
Instant oatmeal, rolled oats, whole oats?

I think it was oatmeal? I will check

 

[aart]

They seem quite tired, one in particular, and I'm scared that they are ill and going to die like my other chick.

Post some pics of your brooder setup.