Sick 3 day old chick

[KaliChick]

Thank you in advance for your help. I will admit that this is my first time hatching chicks (I am a preschool director and we have homes for any and all chicks that we hatched ... planned that well in advance).

Our New Hampshire Reds starting hatching on Tuesday evening (just one hatched Tuesday). We had 7 hatch on Wednesday. One of them (#5) seemed to have a hard time hatching but eventually made it out. Chick was very wet and took quite some time to dry out. Just seemed a bit slower than the rest.

Here we are on Friday and this one is much smaller than the rest. Is eating and drinking okay. Just kind of stumbles along though and sleeps a fair amount. S/He doesn't seem real comfortable in lying down but instead sprawls out a leg and hangs the head low ... will sleep with the others and they don't seem to be pecking on her/him.

Earlier today we noticed that her back end was "hard" and upon further inspection we decided we thought s/he might have pasty butt. We have cleaned it up and no problems since.

When we put her back in with the other chicks and this one just chirps and chirps until we get her/him out and snuggle up in a blanket.

The rear end seems to lack as many feathers and being a novice I can't tell if it's distended or if it's just the lack of feathers that makes it look that way. Just now I checked the vent and gently massaged. Whitish liquid came out. The entire time the chick laid there with eyes closed.

Is this one going to make it? Any other suggestions on what we can do??

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. There can be weak ones just like with any species. Giving vitamins and probiotics in the water may help, but if the chick is really weak, electrolytes may be needed. Some products like Rooster Booster Vitamins and Lactobacillus contain all three. Dropper feeding or dipping the beak into water sometimes will get a weak chick to come around. Pasty butt can be a symptom of too high of heat or dehydration. It usually goes away within the first week. There can be some leg abnormalities such as slipped tendon or splay leg that can be occasionally helped with treatment. Here is a link to read: https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry

 

[KaliChick]

Thank you! We read and read and read some more. We fed her some egg, dipped her beak and gave her poly vi sol. In the end, she was just too weak and passed late Sunday night. I think it was truly a blessing as I don't think she would have made it. I felt like we tried everything.

We have 7 more that are doing great and will be transitioning to their new home later in the week.

Thank you again for your help.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. I'm glad the others are thriving.