Sick chick?

[Homesteadwishes]

Hello! I am new to raising chickens. I have 9, 2 wk. old chicks of various breeds (3 salmon faverolle, 2 easter eggers, 2 buff orpingtons, 1 golden buff or red star, and 1 speckled sussex). I am concerned with my golden buff, Sweetie. She's always the first one to run out of the brooder and expects to be taken out to "play". This morning, she came out as usual but she didn't seem her normal self while out. She pecked at the floor and moved about but it wasn't with her usual zeal. I checked her crop which was not even close to full. I gave her some electrolyte water which she drank, and she also drank plain water on her own. When placed back into the brooder, she went back to the "mamma hen cave" and settled toward the back to sleep- that is not typical behavior for her. She normally goes to eat, drink, then settles in for a nap in the middle or front of the hen cave. She did help herself to chick grit (as did the other chicks when I refilled their container) and she did eat a little when I gave her some food while she was out. But she's not eating much at all. I'm not sure what to do with her. Her poop was a little liquidity but still had a solid mass- if anything, it was on the smaller size but I don't think it was that unusual.
All the other chicks are doing well- running around, eating, drinking, jumping around (I call it angry bird activity). No unusual poops that I can see. They have been outside- the temps here have been in the 80's when I've had them out. They're only out for about 15-20 mins which they enjoy very much. They have eaten some insects (mainly ants) plus some greens while outside.
Any ideas? Is it possible that it's coccidiosis? They are not on medicated feed and they have been vaccinated for Marek's. Sweetie and the 2 buffs are the smallest in the flock, with Sweetie being larger than the other two but there isn't any bullying going on. Sorry for the long post. I hope there's someone that can help me out.

 

[2ndTink]

I would just keep an eye on her and see if you can get a little Nutridrench into her. Watch her poop, see if she gets stopped up or anything changes. Maybe she ate something thats having a hard time getting through her system, or she could just be feeling a little off.

 

[FunClucks]

Do you have a vet who can run a fecal float for you? That is the way to know for sure if it's worms, coccidiosis, or any number of other parasites, and the cheapest way to know for sure what's wrong. Best to know what's wrong so you can treat it properly. Get the vet to tell you exactly which organisms they see in the fecal float, and you can take his recommendations for treatment, or we can help you out here.

Also, identifying a vet who will run a fecal float and possibly treat sick chickens for you in the future is a good idea, if you haven't done it already.

If the vet doesn't find anything, or even if he does, and treatment doesn't help your chicken, then you know something else is going on with your chicken.

Good luck figuring things out!

 

[Homesteadwishes]

Thanks for the replies. By mid-afternoon she still wasn't eating, she was hunched, pale and she had mucous poops. I decided to go with my gut and start a treatment of Corid. She slowly started to eat on her own by Monday evening. I gave her extra heat treatments which also seemed to help (I read in someone's post that sometimes chicks won't eat when they're sick because they're chilled). She was still off the next day but at least she was eating and drinking on her own. She still required the heat treatments but she didn't need to be as close to the heat lamp like the night before. Today (Wednesday), she's back to her old self-first one to come out of the brooder and last one to go back in!

I'll finish treatment but is it recommended that a preventative treatment be given a week after initial treatment? Do I give vitamins before the preventative? I guess what I'm asking is should the schedule be something like this- treatment for 5 days, vitamins for 5 days, then preventative for 5 days?

Thanks!

 

[FunClucks]

Good question. If you search "CORID" or "Corid" in the emergency Forum, you may find the answer. I think it depends on the dosage of initial treatment? I don't remember, but I've seen it on here.