Sick 8 day old baby chick! help!

[Kaitie09]

I just wanted to post that ours passed away this morning. As of last night, she could not really sit up anymore. This morning she could only move her legs and she passed away about 1hr after she could no longer move.

 

[Celtic Chick]

Oh, Kaitie, I am so very sorry to hear that.

 

[Celtic Chick]

I was researching nutritional deficiencies in chicks. I do not know if this is the problem, but this is what I found:
Weak muscles indicates a thiamine deficiency
Nervous disorders, such as:
Jerky movements=pyridoxine def.
Trembling=vitamin E def.
Uncoordinated=vitamin A & E deficiency

Some foods high in vit. A are: broccoli, butternut squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, mangoes & tomato juice. Sweet potatoes & broccoli for E, which also helps boost the immune system.
If you have any of these veggies, boil them up until they are soft & chop them into bite-size pieces or mash them with a fork.

I'll have to look into the thiamine & pyridoxine.

 

[mljohnson05]

I agree with the vitamin issues, put i prefer at that young age to use the poly v sol drops, cuase they are water solualbe which means that whatever the baby chicks bodies do not use, will pass right on out, so there is no chance to overdose.
And if they are having eating, drinking and weak issues, they will most likely not eat much food, and the vitamin drops will work a lot faster. I have seen improvement over night b4

and kaitie, I am so sorry to hear about your little one. Paralyzed legs and drop wing can represent Marek's disease (that is why i was asking)....it can also mean neuro issues

 

[CatDaddyAlbert]

Curious if you were using chick starter or "medicated" chick starter?

 

[Celtic Chick]

Quote:
If it is organic, then it is unmedicated.

 

[Mmayhew]

Katie, sorry to hear about your bird!

My chick is still the same. The organic food I am feeding is unmedicated. The chick is still eating and drinking but can hardly stand on its own. It needs to lean on a wall or sits in the corner for lack of control. It seems to save all of it's energy to get up and eat and drink. This is day two of the poly-vi-ol and still no difference. I am stating to wonder if I should cull her off. This is my first flock and I don't want to be too hasty. How long should I give her to improve? I don't want her to be in pain!

 

[Mmayhew]

Btw Thanks for all the great suggestions!

 

[mljohnson05]

If the polyvsol is going to work , you usually see it within 24 hours

 

[Mmayhew]

Hi all, I wanted to let everyone know that we had to cull the baby chick this morning. She was not getting any better and her leg coordination was getting much worse (she could no longer stand). The last two days she seemed to be in pain so I knew it was time to end her suffering. I have to say killing a baby chick has got to be one of the hardest things I have ever done. I hope the rest of my flock maintains their health so I won't have to do that again any time soon.

Thank you all for you advice. It was comforting to know I tried everything I could before ending her life.