Tired (sick?) chicken won't eat.

Abigail Rose

Hatching
Jun 27, 2017
4
4
9
I have a flock of 8-week old chicks (bantam and regular together) that I just this past week introduced to my big chickens. They have been just fine until a few days ago when one started having trouble. I was hoping for some advice on what exactly may be wrong and what to do about it.

On the 22nd it rained and my Polish rooster (the chick in question) got thoroughly drenched but seemed fine, I thought nothing of it.

The next morning he didn't go outside right away and was acting lethargic, so I separated him from the others. I thought perhaps he had gotten chilled by being so wet, so I gave him a high heat lamp for a little warmth. I watched him all day and got him to eat and drink but I kept him separate to be sure he was okay.

The next morning he was still alright so I put him back in with the rest of the flock. He seemed to be fine all day.

Unfortunately the following afternoon I found the big chickens picking on him, a lot, one in particular. He was to the point where he wasn't running away from them any more and just sat and let the one chicken pick away. So I came to the rescue and separated him again. He was thoroughly exhausted and only wanted to sleep, deeply. All day I tried to get him to eat and drink but it didn't really work. I managed to give him some honey water (for an energy boost) by dipping his beak, but it didn't seem to help much.

Today he is the same. Only I tried the honey water again, but this time he wasn't really drinking it even if I dipped his beak.

I don't know if the two incidents are related or not, but I suspect they are. Over all his symptoms aren't that bad, he just wants to sleep, a pretty peaceful sleep too. He doesn't stare or anything and is calm. The big problem is that he won't eat or drink. I don't think it is a disease or illness, more of being exhausted to the point of no appetite. Does anyone think there is something I can do?
 
Major stress. We put up a temporary wire partition when introducing new additions to the house. Especially younger. It is a pain in the butt I know. It sounds like he has "Thrown to the Wolves" syndrome. A mental wreck. I would be concerned about dehydration. Vitamins and electrolytes should be administered by drench. Take a cup of cracked corn and put it in some boiling water and shut off the burner. After it cools down, it will be like popcorn. Add a bit of electrolyte solution to the wet corn as well. Keep him away from the bullies. They will peck his eyes out.
Moist bread with electrolytes is good too. Keep him hydrated!
Good luck..
 
Corn and bread are not good for chickens.
Please do not try to feed him these two things.
 
Hi @Abigail Rose :frow Welcome To BYC

Since he is a crested bird, I would suspect that he has suffered some head injury/trauma.
Getting him hydrated if very important. If you need to tube/syringe fluids into him like in the @KikisGirls gave you above.

Add some poultry vitamins like Poultry Nutri-Drench to his water. See if he will eat some wet chick starter or chopped egg.

Keep him warm and separated until he recovers. If the rest of your flock are "non polish" then you may need to keep him housed separately. Crest birds do sometimes have a hard time with integration since they are so different.

Let us know how he is doing.
 
Is the polish an 8 week old or an older chicken? If he is young, I would consider giving him Corid (amprollium) for 7 days in the water, in case he has coccidiosis. Symptoms can include not eating, sleepiness, weakness, hunched posture, and diarrhea. How do his droppings look?
 

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