Sick Chick?

[Missa Chickabee]

Little Chick 4 days old. Sleeps most of the time. Does not seem to run with the other 9. Seems slightly unbalanced when she does walk

Every hour I look in the chick pen and she is sleeping. ALL the others may be running around or eating like little piglets or scrapping over a piece of nothing. But she mostly lies there....usually sleeping. She will arouse if I prompt her. She gets around...has a sip of water, pecks at food...but I really don't see her eating much of anything. She moves more slowly .

A typical look-in shows her sleeping and facing the back "wall" while all the others are noisily eating on the other side of their chick apartment.




Can a chick have coccidiosis straight from the hatchery?

Should I give her Corid?

This is the 4th batch I've had in the last three years and I have not seen a little teenie like this before.

Someone said something about 'Karo Syrup', advice complimets of McMurray Hatcheriess?

~Chick Worrying about a Chick

 

[Lilorp14]

if you just got them within 5 days she/he is probably either was still hatching when they shipped her/him or she has a little bit of a problem. The third option is that she is just really tired ( i don't think she/he is sick just because there would be discharge from the nose and eyes if she/he has that then its either her/his cadge is too hot for their taste or she/he is sick)

hope she's ok

orpluvr

 

[azygous]

Get to the feed store and pick up liquid Corid and Poultry Nutri-drench.

There's a very good chance you can turn this chick around. Mix the liquid (not powdered) Corid one quarter teaspoon to a cup of tepid water, then squirt a dropper full of the Nutridrench into it. But first, try to get one drop full strength Nutri-drench on the side of the chick's beak. This stuff is amazing and goes directly into the blood stream, reviving a stressed chick.

The Corid is a precaution. You don't have to know for sure she has cocci to treat her. Do it up fresh each day for five days. The chick could have been stressed during shipping and cocci took the opportunity to attack her. It isn't an antibiotic so it's not going to be harsh on her little system.

Keep her warm, and if she seems stressed by being with the others, put her in a crate by herself for the next few days until she perks up.

 

[Missa Chickabee]

Thank-you both for the quick responses. I have Corid in the house and I try to get hubby to pick up some nutri-drench (we are quite a ways out of town) She does appear smaller than the rest of them and her eyes look sleepy, so she may be younger than the others, Not a lot of energy.

So do they all get Corid or just her? I have already had them on medicated chick feed because with every batch we've had, coccidiosis has shown up....Corid always has fixed it fast. But they all were older when they got it....ie they were out in the coop. These have just gotten to the house 4 days ago.

 

[Missa Chickabee]

Oh. One more thing. She scratches both sides of her head more often than the others do. But I have not seen mites and I can't imagine they would come from the hatchery with mites???

~Missa

 

[azygous]

Get a magnifying glass and check inside her ear flaps. Something may be in there.

You can give the Corid to all the chicks if the droopy one is still with them. It won't hurt them. But I wouldn't bother if the chick has already been segregated. Or you could give the healthy ones the preventative dose, which is half the curative dose.

I just went through this with a chick of mine this past week. Cocci is everywhere, so you never know how one gets it. I treated my chick for it, but she died anyway. I believe she was a victim of failure to thrive and Corid isn't going to make a difference in that case.

 

[DerryFarm]

How's your chick doing? I have a similar situation, two 12 day old chicks, one (Buff Orpington) is bouncy and full of energy while the other (Cuckoo Marans) seems a little lethargic. The Buff is clearly growing but the Cuckoo is still the same size and a little wobbly when she walks. I feed them the Manna Pro non medicated Starter, both eat but the Cuckoo eats a fraction of what the Buff eats. Bought them both at a local feed store.

 

[Missa Chickabee]

Hi Azygous and Derry Farm,

So sorry I am so late getting back to you both. It has been a bit crazy and I am just getting back to the computer. (I can't do the cell phone thing....fat fingers)


Well...all things are well here. I have come to the conclusion that the little one I was so very worried about was younger....as you had said. But still...she was so lethargic and not
eating...just sleeping and sleeping.

No one carried Nutridrench around here (northern MN) so I decided to scramble up an egg...cool and chop it and see what would happen. ( I understand now that it would be better if I just used te yolk?)

Anyway...FEEDING FRENZY. They all went bananas for that stuff and 'little one' caught the adrenaline, too and started going for it. She quickly improved after getting that nutrition and so I didn't do the Corid. She seems fine.

Azygous, I will check behind her ear flaps. Didn't know I could do that. When you say 'something' could be in there...do you mean food particles or mites?? She had been unsteady on her feet but doing better there, still, just looks a bit 'pale'...if a chick can be pale.

Derry Farm, how are your babies doing now?

~Missa

 

[azygous]

Glad the chick seems to be improving! That's great news! When I was trying to save my sick chick last week (she died), I gave her finely chopped boiled egg white along with minced boiled egg yolk. Each has different important nutrients. The white has protein which is an important energy booster, and often a sick chick will eat the boiled egg white when they refuse the yolk. So giving both to your chicks is terrific.

Sometimes a tiny bit of debris will make it into a chicken's ear. It's rare since the ear flap does a very good job of keep foreign matter out. It's a good thing they like having their ears touched, sort of tickles, so just gently move the flap forward to get a peek inside.If something is in there, you should be able to sweep it out with a Q-tip moistened with olive oil or baby oil. You aren't going to be inserting anything into the ear itself. You can also drip mineral oil into the ear if she continues to scratch it. She may just have a very dry, irritated ear canal. I had a small tube of ear lubricant an ear specialist had given me, and I used it on a chick who was always scratching her ear. It did the trick and no more scratching.

 

[DerryFarm]

Unfortunately my little Cuckoo Marans didn't survive. She wasn't well from day one and became weaker and weaker. We're so sad but went back to our feed store and got two Welsummer chicks that are a little older and healthier.