This Chick is a Fighter

[chick72]

Early hours October 15, this chick was born. She is a silkie hatched in incubator from one of our eggs. The incubator has issues, which led to her hatching about a week late. She zipped the shell and hatched rather quickly with what looked like umbilical with little white matter on the end still attached at first. Her navel just looks like dried blood spot now. She was very wobbly and seemed weak, but I had read about new chicks falling over and appearing dead. Being new to hatching, I waited till she dried off. She was very perky and loud. At some point, we took her from the incubator. I have treated her for spraddle leg, but she seems like she is weak as well. I will mention that she has only eight toes. I don't think that is the problem. We have had silkies in the past with only nine toes. A day or so in and she started a clicking noise and doesn't peep as much. She is trying so hard to walk but is very wobbly and lies down a lot. She doesn't seem to be trying to walk as much as at first. She seems labored in her breathing as well. I have tried to feed her egg yolk and given her water with sugar and water with electrolytes/vitamins. Sometimes she will take it and other times not. I have not been hopeful and thought I would wake to find her gone, but she is a fighter. From what I have been reading on here, it sounds like she may have a respiratory issue. If so, please let me know how to treat and what works best, including dosage info. I have attached some photos & video links. Please help me save this little one. Thank you in advance for any help.

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[FoodFreedomNow]

I've found that chicks that hatch significantly late, especially if assisted, may fail to thrive. It's good that you know that her chances of survival may not be good...but sometimes they can beat the odds.

Her labored breathing would be my primary concern. It's possible that suboptimal incubation conditions resulted in or contributed to some internal problems (e.g., underdeveloped or malformed organs like heart or lungs). This thread may be helpful.

In addition, she's probably weak from the prolonged hatch and at 3 days out, her yolk reserves will either have been used up or nearing exhaustion. If she's not eating, tube feeding may be needed to keep her alive.

Wishing both of you the best of luck.

 

[sourland]

I've found that chicks that hatch significantly late, especially if assisted, may fail to thrive. It's good that you know that her chances of survival may not be good...but sometimes they can beat the odds.

Her labored breathing would be my primary concern. It's possible that suboptimal incubation conditions resulted in or contributed to some internal problems (e.g., underdeveloped or malformed organs like heart or lungs). This thread may be helpful.

In addition, she's probably weak from the prolonged hatch and at 3 days out, her yolk reserves will either have been used up or nearing exhaustion. If she's not eating, tube feeding may be needed to keep her alive.

Wishing both of you the best of luck.

Late hatched chicks tend to be weak and frequently have congenital problems that limits their survival. Keep it warm, hydrated and fed - there is nothing more that you can do. Good luck.