Supporting my new little bantam

[JenFid]

Hi everyone - this is my and my husband's second time getting chicks (last time 2 years ago). This year we ordered 4 chicks from Meyers: an olive egger, splash maran, cochin bantam, and lavender ameraucana. They shipped on Monday and USPS did a fantastic job getting them here, I was able to pick them up on Tuesday afternoon.

All 4 chicks were good, but the bantam I noticed was kind of squinting or only opening her eyes half way. She seems to get tired easily, but she eats and drinks and walks around/preens with no issues. A bit of research suggested maybe she just had a rough time hatching and just needed some extra recovery time. They have electrolytes in their water and everyone ate a bit of the gel Meyers sends with the chick orders.

So we've had 2 issues already: we have a brooder plate and I had a hard time getting it set to a level to keep her warm but not too low for the bigger girls. Wednesday morning I found that she and one of my bigger girls had come out at some point in the night and somehow gone under a papertowel only halfway under the brooder. I fixed them right away but obviously they didn't get as warm as they should have for who knows how long...she spent a lot of time sleeping yesterday but still ate and drank a bunch. Poops look fine. By the time we went to sleep around 11:30 and let them have their last drinks for the night I thought she was doing better.

Then this morning when I came in (around 6:30) I thought it was weird they didn't come running out when I walked in and turned the light on. I lifted the brooder plate up and they were all huddled together because I had somehow unplugged the brooder when I put them to sleep!! I feel so so awful about that. Everyone including the bantam perked up when they saw me and ate and drank. I picked her up and she was shivering a bit Now that the brooder plate is going again she's been going in and out from it but I still worry for her as she's definitely not as peppy as the other 3.

Is there anything additional I can do to support her? Or is just making sure she stays warm and eats and drinks enough for now?

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Set the back legs of the brooder plate low enough that when she is laying down it touches her back and then set the front legs of the plate high enough that the older ones have to duck slightly to get under. I would recommend picking up some Poultry Cell for her as well.

 

[JenFid]

Set the back legs of the brooder plate low enough that when she is laying down it touches her back and then set the front legs of the plate high enough that the older ones have to duck slightly to get under. I would recommend picking up some Poultry Cell for her as well.

That is how the brooder is set up now and everyone seems to be happy (I did that Wednesday morning).

I have some Nutri-drench on hand already, I think that could work as well?

Thank you for the reply!

 

[MGG]

I would definitely switch to a heat lamp for a few days at least until she perks back up, she looks pretty weak. Especially having bigger breed chicks under there fighting for warmth, she could very easily get trampled and die. I've used heating pads like a heat plate quite a few times before, but mainly with week old + ducklings, and never chicks. I tried it with chicks this year, and had three different chicks get trampled underneath and die. Only one was small/weak too. I'd never use them with chicks under a week old, especially shipped chicks. Many hatcheries won't even uphold their guarantee if you use a heat plate. They're just not as good in the early stages. Later on they can be great, but with fragile shipped chicks especially weak ones they just are not as good as a lamp.

 

[MGG]

That is how the brooder is set up now and everyone seems to be happy (I did that Wednesday morning).

I have some Nutri-drench on hand already, I think that could work as well?

Thank you for the reply!

I'd definitely offer her some nutridrench, maybe in a mash or something. And I'd probably put a few drops in the water for all of them too.

 

[JenFid]

I'd definitely offer her some nutridrench, maybe in a mash or something. And I'd probably put a few drops in the water for all of them too.

Thanks, I've got the nutri-drench in the water and everyone has drank quite a bit. She already seems to be doing better even before I gave that, running around and doing little wing flaps. Her eyes seem to be doing a little better. She is eating a lot. When I pick her up now she doesn't just instantly snuggle and fall asleep. I've got them here in my home office with me so I can continue to keep an eye on them, but I think she's on an upward path.

I will say that's the first I've heard to not use a brooder plate. I checked Meyer's page and all they have is suggestions/instructions on how to set up a heat lamp or a brooder plate, but they don't endorse either one or say one is better than the other.