Signs of Stress in Chicks?

[K1Chickies]

My little ones are about a week old... One little one in particular was born spraddle legged, so I used the band-aid method to help him stand upright and walk around. Peeper (as I call him) has been great for the last few days, hopping around and terrorizing his "sisters", but today after my husband and I replaced the band-aid he started acting kind of funky. He only wants to sleep, and his breathing is very loud. It's not a rasping sound, just a loud breath... I can hear him from the other side of the room. We placed him near water but he ignored it. We placed him away from the corner of the brooder where they like to sleep and he did get up and walk to the other chicks to snuggle after a little while.... I'm wondering if these are just signs of stress? Maybe moving from my classroom (with 24 noisy kindergarteners) to my home (with a nosy-half-brother-shih-tzu) is wearing on him?? I've been trying to leave them be and just check on them every few hours to see if it helps... but is there anything else I can be doing to make them comfortable? The other three chicks appear to be fine and are defending Peeper if I go to move or check on him.... He actually fell asleep in my hand the last time I held him which is unusual because normally he tries to escape... Maybe he's just overly tired??

Sorry for the ramble, but opinions would be great! :-/

 

[junebuggena]

Did you dip his beak in the water? Has he ever drank on his own before? Sometimes they need to be 'taught' how to drink. Chicks can live for a few days without food or water after hatch, but by the fourth day or so, you need to make sure they are eating and drinking. If they don't they will go downhill fast, and there's not much you can do to stop it.

 

[K1Chickies]

He had been eating and drinking on his own with ease. We found the chicks had hatched in our incubator on Monday morning... and we started applying the band-aids to Peeper on Tuesday morning and all has been well. His beak dipped into the water but he didn't seem interested... He's been producing waste as well... Not really sure what's going on...

 

[junebuggena]

Is his vent plugged? Are they getting medicated feed?

 

[K1Chickies]

He was getting medicated feed, and no his vent seemed okay.... We just lost him... On review, he was more deformed than we had thought so I think it was just the nature of the beast.... At least we gave him a good week!

 

[junebuggena]

So sorry you lost one. Sometime it just happens.

 

[K1Chickies]

Thanks June! My co-teacher and I knew that he didn't have much of a shot when we took him out of the incubator... He was really rough... That's why I elected to take him home as sort of a pet project instead of back to the farm... He wouldn't have lasted an hour there... At least he made it a day here... :-/ I still have 3 cuties peeping away at me so that's a good thing... They all look healthy so I don't think it was illness which is a relief...