Sick chick help!

[seminolewind]

First time poster and chick caretaker by accident. I am looking for a little advice and explanation for a chick that died last night. I came upon the situation unexpectedly and did the best I could with the resources I had but was unsuccessful in saving the chick. Yesterday I was working at a horse barn in the Northeast... about 20 degrees outside. In the barn was what looked like a young hen with a single chick, probably only a few days old. I did not pay too much attention as my job was with a horse, but the chick seemed okay as far as I could tell. About an hour later when I was getting ready to leave, I saw the hen outside and there was her chick by the edge of the road, upside down in a pile of snow/slush. I don't know how long he had been there but he could not right himself and seemed in pretty bad shape. I brought him back into the barn and tried to corral the hen back to the barn without success. In the cold temperature and as bad as he looked with the hen uninterested and the chick taking agonal breaths, I did the only thing I could think of...wrap him in a towel and put him in my car with the heat cranked up. He was still alive when I got home and now chirping a bit. I was amazed he was still alive. I had no real chicken supplies so I made up some warm sugar water for energy and dosed him with an eyedropper. Amazingly he improved over several hours. I fixed up a cardboard box with a towel, using a bodywarmer for skiers at the bottom of the box, and then set the box on the radiator with a towel partially covering it so he couldn't get out but could get air. I dosed him with the sugar water every few hours and scattered some bird seed (only thing I had) on the bottom of the box, and placed a small container of water in it (he could not drown in it). By the evening he seemed pretty much normal. I was so happy! I went to bed and when I woke up the following morning he was dead. I was devastated! I know the situation was not ideal and I did not have everything I needed on short notice to take care of him properly, but I am beating myself up thinking I should have done something differently to save him. Especially when he seemed to come back from the brink of death. Should I have woken up every few hours to feed him with the sugar water? Could the sugar water have messed up his metabolism? Was it too hot or too cold for him? I should have had a thermometer in the box but I didn't. When I checked the temperature afterwards in the same situation the temp was 80 degrees. I know now it probably should have been more like 90, but that was the warmest I could make it given my resources at the time. Could that have been too warm considering he had come from a much colder barn? As upsetting as this is for me, I just want to learn from this so I will not make the same mistakes if ever I find myself in a similar situation. I am sure if I had not brought him home he would have died, but to have him improve so dramatically and then die anyway is very hard to accept. Could the stress of the whole day finally been too much for him? Thanks in advance for your help and advice to a non chick farmer but someone who tried to help a little chick!

I think you were smart enough to a lot of the right things. Sadly, chicks don't tolerate stress well. The proper temperature would have been between 90 and 100 degrees. But I think that the damage was already done. You don't really know when he had his last meal. If he went 3-4 days without food, then the cold and possibly inhaled some water, there's very little you could have done. But I think if he would have had any chance, you would have pulled him thru.

I think you will feel much better if you stay a member here, read the chick thread, and buy yourself a few chicks!

 

[little chick 10]

Seminolewind, thanks very much for the reply! I think it would have easier to accept the outcome if the little guy had not improved so dramatically before he crashed. Guess I let myself hope a little too much! A couple more questions if you don't mind. Is it normal for a hen to have only a single chick, and to have it in February? I was wondering if maybe she had had more chicks and they were compromised? I read that newborn chicks can last about 3 days without food since they absorb their yolk. This little chick was missing feathers on the tips of his wings...would that make him about 2-3 days old and using up his food reserves? Also read that in a pinch cornmeal and maybe rolled oats can be fed as starter feed? I live in a city and I would have to mailorder chick starter feed should this happen again. The hens in the horse barns I work at pretty much have to fend for themselves so I wouldn't be able to get any supplies from those barns. I am so glad I found this site, though. Lots to learn and hopefully the next time (if there is one) there will be a better outcome. Thanks again

 

[chickenpatch]

It's not common for a hen to have chicks when it is snowing or Winter. And I doubt she only had one chick, she would have never gone broody and only sat on one egg. There is a possibility that she sat on many eggs, but only one hatched, but I doubt that too.

Rest at ease knowing you gave the little chick a stress-free passing. It would have died in that horrible snow, upside down, but you made it warm, and let it rest. These things just happen, it wouldn't have being your fault, the chick may have already received enough damage to itself.

Stay on this site, and consider getting yourself some chicks in the future. You were kind hearted to take in a helpless chick and try to save it, I'm sure your future flock will love you

 

[little chick 10]

Chickenpatch,

Thanks for the reply and the kind words! This is a good place to learn about raising chicks so if and when the opportunity for chick raising comes my way again I will be better prepared

 

[BrandyGARRISON]

I'm also having the same problem. I separated it from the other 3. I made it mash ( didn't eat it) water is there but I don't have a way to give it to her by hand. No eye dropper.... I'm stuck. I can't lose this baby. It's my emotional support right now... Please help guys... It's about 3 weeks old, maybe more. If that helps.

 

[MacCana]

What's your chick acting like @BrandyGARRISON ? It won't eat on it's own at this age?

 

[BrandyGARRISON]

@MacCanait's fine now. I'm not sure what was wrong. I've been keeping an eye on it to make sure it doesn't get that way again. I'll check back here if it does act weird again. Do you know how to tell the sex of americauna chicks? They're all at least a month old. I think one out of the four is a rooster. It likes to get in the others faces and act tough. Let me know

 

[MacCana]

@MacCana it's fine now. I'm not sure what was wrong. I've been keeping an eye on it to make sure it doesn't get that way again. I'll check back here if it does act weird again. Do you know how to tell the sex of americauna chicks? They're all at least a month old. I think one out of the four is a rooster. It likes to get in the others faces and act tough. Let me know

Ameracaunas can be kind of hard to sex. Most people have to wait a while to be sure. Some until they begin crowing. Bc of the small pea comb and darker skin.
How I could tell mine was a roo is the difference between his stature and my pullet's. He carried himself upright and cocky like. He also started "showing" the other's their food.
You could try making a thread and posting pics of them, asking for opinions. A lot of people enjoy chiming in with guesses, and may be able to offer other "clues" that they know about for sexing them at a young age. Hackle feathers are another "roo-clue" (I like that), they will be pointy on the ends, rather than round like a hen's.

I'm glad they're feeling better though, that's great!

 

[jeane42]

What was the final result?

 

[newchick123]

Hi I'm 14 and my parents said if I wanted chickens then they would be completely my responsibility so I'm taking care of them. I just got my chicks 5 days ago and their already growing so much. I got the RIRs and two striped black ones. They seem to be doing ok but one is tired all the time compared to the others. I just noticed it today and its eating from what I can tell. For the most part it lays down a lot and let's the others pile on top of it without even budging. Should I separate it from the others?