Sick baby chicken

[rusty80]

This is our first time with chickens. I bought six babies from a local (two buff orpingtons, two araucanas, and two black sex links). For right now, we have them in a plastic tub with straw and a red lamp (got them last night). Right out of the box, one of the buff orpingtons sulked and always had her head down. I've seen her and the rest sort of rhythmically lift their wings when they breathe.

The one with the problem seemed to perk up a little bit when she sat near the lamp for the first time (walked there herself), but the rest of them huddled in the corner and continue to do so today (seem to be avoiding the heat). I was wondering what the problem might be with the other and if there is anything I can do for her. The house is usually 75 to 80 degrees, so I was going to try turning the heat off for a while and see what happens. They have all eaten and had water since we got them.

In the picture, we picked her up to get her to interact with something and put her back with the rest (she is at the bottom of the pile and doesn't make an effort to get out).

 

[Judy]

It's easy to overheat young chicks; it's hard to tell what the temp might be in there. They actually look a bit like they are piling the way they do when chilled. Do you know what day they were hatched? Also, you might talk to the seller, ask them if they have been having trouble with cocci or other illnesses, also whether they have had contact with the ground.

There is an excellent article in the sticky on the Raising Baby Chicks forum about common causes of chick mortality. Here's a link

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/39604/some-causes-of-early-chick-mortality/0_20

 

[ChickStarter13]

try using electrolytes in their water

 

[rusty80]

This baby seems better, but now one of the Araucanas seems close to death. Yesterday while they were outside, I found some grubs and worms and threw them in to play with. (I know that this chicken ate more worms than anyone else.) This morning, she was burying herself under the straw in their tub, legs sticking straight out. I put her in the coop outside so she has more room, and I noticed that she can barely stand. She will walk a couple steps, try to run, flip over in a somersault, run straight into a corner as hard as she can, and stick her legs straight behind her. I've forced her to eat chick meal mixed with water (with electrolytes), but she doesn't seem interested. She's pooped three or four inch streams of clear liquid, and I have seen one solid come out earlier today (looked like it might have been a coiled earthworm, fairly big pile). Anything I can do for this chicken? I have tried making her sit up, but the legs go straight back every time and she lies flat in the corner.

 

[rusty80]

She remained flat on her stomach with legs out in one spot for over 12 hours, so I put her down this morning.

 

[azygous]

If you're feeding these chicks grubs and worms without providing grit for their crops to digest them, then they're probably suffering from impacted crops now.

 

[teach1rusl]

Are the others behaving normally?? I would also suggest making sure they have access to grit of some kind any time they have access to any food other than chick feed, although I doubt an impacted crop caused what you described, especially so quickly.

 

[angel8035]

Baby chicks should be kept inside for the first few weeks with a heat lamp at one end of their enclosure so they can get out of the heat if desired. They should be fed a chick feed and no worms or other treats if possible. They need to eat as much chick feed as possible as it has complete nutrition for them and eating other foods can make them sick and throw off their nutrition level. Chicks are very delicate and I don't even allow mine outside until they are several weeks old because the temperature changes can affect them. Also, putting them outside exposes them to illnesses from other birds. If I were you, make sure the heat lamp is all the way to one edge of the brooder so that the chicks can regulate their temperatures. Keep them inside for a few weeks. Only feed them medicated chick feed. It is possible they picked something up from the worms or blocked up their crops from eating them. You can try mixing a little bit of sand or chick grit in with their food to see if they can digest the worms. Otherwise you may just have to wait and see if they make it.

 

[rusty80]

I am not sure how old any of these birds are, but probably at least a few weeks. Only the one bird was affected. It was one of two larger birds, about double the size of the others (full feathers on wings and back). It was very warm out the last week or so, that is why I put them out in their coop (bare ground and shade underneath, which is where they spent most of their time). The rest are doing well. A couple little ones seemed concerned about the sick one, climbing and sitting on it while it shoved into the corner. But it was making lots of noise when they did, so I took it out to be by itself under the lamp until this morning.

 

[teach1rusl]

Mama hens take their babies outside at only a few days of age, so it's fine to take even tiny chicks outdoors for a little while as long as it's warm enough (and of course as long as they're protected), so you did nothing wrong in taking them outside.
Has the little one in question gotten any better? The same? Worse?