Sick Chick, maybe?

[Medatho]

We were given a flock of chickens and hen house. We’ve been doing well with them for a few weeks. Since we don’t know the birds ages we decided we should get a few chicks so we know the ages.

We got 4 chicks and 3 are doing amazing. The 4th has us worried. See her below.

She is capable of standing. There are no obvious injuries. She eats and drinks when placed near the sources. She walks awkwardly And collapses like this when trying to rest.

Our initial thoughts were temperature and nutrition. My wife found she liked the warmth of that slipper so that’s how that ended up in there. we started her on egg to increase the nutrition and she gobbles it up.

first noticed this last night. Took the above steps this morning. this afternoon we got a heat lamp and vitamins for the water.

Any additional advice?

 

[Medatho]

She also appears to be about half the size of her "siblings" that were all hatched within 24 hours.

 

[Criticalicious]

How long were the chicks without heat? Baby chicks need a constant heat source. If they didn't have heat for a long period of time, the baby could've gotten chilled. Were they peeping loudly in distress? A happy chick is a quiet(ish) chick.

 

[Medatho]

About 2 days but we have them indoors where we have it 75 degrees which is what I thought was needed.

Yes, they peep a lot but it didn't seem to be distress. This coming from a noob though.

 

[Medatho]

I'm now seeing lots of recommendations of 95 degrees. I'm guessing this is the full cause Hopefully she will recover. She's only been lethargic for one day.

 

[americanchicks]

She is a cutie. Yes I think a nice warm light might help. Keep us posted.

 

[Medatho]

Well I woke up to her sleeping with the others (they were ignoring her) and sleeping with her legs under her instead of splayed to the side. That feels like an improvement.

We're going to give her sugar or honey water and hard boiled egg yolk today.

The other three are walking on her pretty frequently. Should we consider moving her on her own for a bit?

 

[americanchicks]

She should be ok with the others. Being away from their hatch-mates can stress them out more. I like sugar water to improve lethargic chicks. I use a syringe, no needle of course. Just be very careful. Its easy to get carried away, you don't want her to choke. Just a very tiny bit at a time and let her swallow. Only use like a 1/4 ml. Good luck and keep her warm.

 

[aart]

I like sugar water to improve lethargic chicks. I use a syringe, no needle of course. Just be very careful.

Yes, very careful. I use a soaked qtip held against side of beak. Liquid should wick into mouth then stroke under beak and/or in front of neck to stimulate it to swallow.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

I'm now seeing lots of recommendations of 95 degrees.

That may be too hot, but they definitely need more than 74°F.
Here's my notes on chick heat, hope something in there might help:

They need to be pretty warm(~85-90F on the brooder floor right under the lamp and 10-20 degrees cooler at the other end of brooder) for the first day or two, especially if they have been shipped, until they get to eating, drinking and moving around well. But after that it's best to keep them as cool as possible for optimal feather growth and quicker acclimation to outside temps. A lot of chick illnesses are attributed to too warm of a brooder. I do think it's a good idea to use a thermometer on the floor of the brooder to check the temps, especially when new at brooding, later I still use it but more out of curiosity than need.

The best indicator of heat levels is to watch their behavior:
-If they are huddled/piled up right under the lamp and cheeping very loudly, they are too cold.
-If they are spread out on the absolute edges of the brooder as far from the lamp as possible, panting and/or cheeping very loudly, they are too hot.
-If they sleep around the edge of the lamp calmly just next to each other and spend time running all around the brooder they are juuuust right!

The lamp is best at one end of the brooder with food/water at the other cooler end of the brooder, so they can get away from the heat or be under it as needed. Wattage of 'heat' bulb depends on size of brooder and ambient temperature of room brooder is in. Regular incandescent bulbs can be used, you might not need a 'heat bulb'. If you do use a heat bulb make sure it's specifically for poultry, some heat bulbs for food have teflon coatings that can kill birds. You can get red colored incandescent bulbs at a reptile supply source. A dimmer extension cord is an excellent way to adjust the output of the bulb to change the heat without changing the height of the lamp.

 

[Medatho]

she is still lethargic. Her feathers are growing a bit better but slower than the others.

She can stand and can lift herself to standing position but always tilted a bit.

now that she’s grown a bit we can see a potential wound on her right leg. Picture below for comparison. Its definitely swollen and bright red.