Slow developing chick... what to do?

[kitchwitch]

I got my first chicks on Thursday morning and everyone (but one) was fine. They all went straight for the food and water and they all get along with each other. Since Thursday I have lost 3 more chicks. One was an accidental drowning and the other two just died, or so it seems. I woke up yesterday morning to find the one laying there, dead and the same happened this morning.
The two that I found just laying there were both Silver Laced Wyandottes, which seem to be the smallest chicks I have. Everyone else is growing quickly and the SLWs lagged behind slightly.
I have 3 more SLWs left in my flock, one of which is very small. In fact she still looks to only be a few days old. This chick is not being picked on (no one seemed to be picked on and the two dead had no evidence of trauma) but she seems a bit lethargic and I don't recall seeing her eat very much.
I have pulled her out and put her in a separate box with a friend. The temp is a little higher in this box (95-98) and she seemed to perk up a little bit and drank some of the electrolyte-water I put in with her, but now she's layed back down (so has her friend).

Any other suggestions on what I can do to help her? Has anyone else had a slow to grow chick?

 

[LynneP]

They may indeed be younger and require more heat- good interpretation on your part. Might be wise to form a second brood or adjust your box so they get close to the lamp(s). Electrolytes would not be out of line, either.

Another possibility is that they were hatched in a different batch and have contracted something from source. Segregating them would then become necessary, with an eye to treating them to keep hydrated and away from older chicks that might dominate them. If the chicks will accept it, yogurt is often a pick-me up. They sound stressed, they may be ill.

 

[kitchwitch]

She and her 'friend' took to the yogurt very quickly! but now they're both laying down again. Are they always this lazy?
Before she laid down she was pecking around her food, but not eating any.

I checked on the rest of the flock and they're all laying down as well.

I'm going to buy some of that polyvisol for her and see if that helps her any.

 

[she-earl]

I am a newbie and am not a "chick professional" That sounds a lot like my chicks. One we culled because it was beyond help from shipping. The others seemed to be doing OK. Mine were shipped on Tuesday and arrived on Thursday. Three died on Saturday and two died yesterday. I called the hatchery this morning. The lady wondered what I was using for bedding. I told her pine shavings. She said I was to cover the shavings with towel(s). She said that colored breeds tend to eat the shavings thus hindering there digestion. I have covered mine and am hoping that the remaining chicks do alright. I just thougt I would pass this along.

 

[kitchwitch]

We've just taken them off of their paper towels but I did see little chick pecking around in the bedding.
She seems to be doing so much better bthan she was though. She's taken to the yogurt and polyvisol, I've seen her nibbling at her food and she ate a cricket this evening. I bought them for the other 19 and put a couple in with her and her roommate so the roommate didn't have to go without. Roommate actually pecked the cricket a bit and then let little chick have it.

I have given them some grit and sand to hopefully help with any digestion problems. Thanks everyone!