Sick weak chick

[TheAmundsons]

We got 4 chicks about two weeks ago from TSC in the bantam bin. One of them was obviously older because it already had a good amount of feathers. I’m not sure exactly how old it is. Everything was going well, and it’s growing much quicker than the other bantams we got (maybe it’s not a bantam?). But everything seemed fine. Then we got our shipment of chicks from Murray McMurray on Wednesday morning, and everyone is getting along great. But this morning I noticed the big guy was having trouble walking and seemed to struggle with balance. I’ve attached some pictures from different angles that I took this morning. Not sure if they’ll help, but figured I’d include them anyway! He seems to be walking with his legs super far apart, and when he lays down, at least one leg is sprawled out to the side (see picture). We noticed some of the chicks have been stepping on him, so this evening we took him out and cuddled with him on the couch for several hours. He seemed to sleep peacefully. We gave him water with probiotics and electrolytes (which has been available to all the chicks since we got them) through a syringe and I think he drank somewhere between 5-8 ml this evening. I stuck him back in the brooder with everyone and dunked his beak in the water just to remind him where it was. He hobbled over to the warmest part of the brooder for about 3 seconds, then went straight to the food and started eating. He ate a good amount then hobbled over to sleep with everyone. He kept getting stepped on/nudged and couldn’t seem to get comfortable. Right now he is wrapped in a dish towel resting in the box the chicks from McMurray came in. He seems most at peace here, but won’t have access to food or water. His poops are pretty solid with no liquid at all. Does that mean he’s dehydrated, or is that normal for chicks? Would it be okay to leave him in the box all night, or should we stick him back in the brooder? We have the box placed right outside the brooder, and I think he should be okay temperature wise. Any suggestions on what else to do to help, or what might be wrong? None of the other chicks are showing any signs of sickness.

The picture of him on my wrist was about a week and a half ago before there were any signs of illness. I just wanted to include a full picture of him. (We also don’t know if it’s a him or her as its obviously too early to tell, but we’ve been sticking with him.)

 

[Norcal527]

No pasty butt? Do they have fresh water or just the electrolyte water? How many other chicks is he with?

 

[TheAmundsons]

No pasty butt? Do they have fresh water or just the electrolyte water? How many other chicks is he with?

No pasty butt, they only have electrolyte water, and there are 25 chicks in the brooder, but there is more than enough room for all of them.

 

[TheAmundsons]

I figured we will offer both types of water starting tomorrow. We just wanted to get extra nutrients into the ones that were shipped to help with trauma.

 

[Norcal527]

I figured we will offer both types of water starting tomorrow. We just wanted to get extra nutrients into the ones that were shipped to help with trauma.

Yeah I would just give them fresh water if they had the electrolytes for a few days now. If they aren't trampling him I'm not sure what else it could be. Is there a way for him to get out of the heat if he wants to? Like a cooler side of the brooder?

 

[Norcal527]

Also your chick is a Mille Fleur D'uccle bantam

 

[TheAmundsons]

Yeah I would just give them fresh water if they had the electrolytes for a few days now. If they aren't trampling him I'm not sure what else it could be. Is there a way for him to get out of the heat if he wants to? Like a cooler side of the brooder?

The other chicks are definitely kind of trampling him. He seems to kind of be their favorite, I think because he’s bigger they go to him as kind of like their mom. They try to get under his wings to sleep sometimes. Our heat lamp is on one side of the brooder and it’s pretty toasty over there. We don’t have a thermometer, but I’d guess probably 95-100*. But the other side is room temperature which is about 65-70*. Everyone seems to sleep just about in the middle, with a few exceptions that like to sleep closer/further from the heat.

He made it through the night in isolation, but seems to be getting worse. He is still eating and drinking on his own, but can’t really stand. When he walks, he really hobbles and uses his wings to keep him up. I’ll try to upload a video today.

@aart @casportpony you guys seem to have a lot of good suggestions that I’ve seen. Any suggestions?

 

[casportpony]

Can you post a picture of his poop? It's possible that he has coccidiosis.

 

[TheAmundsons]

 

[TheAmundsons]

We just lost a different chick. This one seemed very different though. When I found it this morning it was barely alive and had labored breathing. We started getting stuff around to cull because it was obviously not going to make it. It passed before we got the stuff around.

The Mille fleur d’uccle chick seems strong and wants to live, there’s just something wrong with it’s legs. I posted a poop pic for @casportpony. It just pooped again and was more liquid and all brown.