Urgent, help please. My six week old chick suddenly collapsed

[sharonp53]

Please can you help urgently. I am panicking. I was holding my six week old roo chick. He was happily relaxed and then started struggling. I went to move him to put him downband he collapsed. He looked dead,neyes closed, head back and floppy. I blew in his beak and laid him on a cold surface, gradually he recovered. He is still a bit wobbly, but other than that he seems okay. But is making a little trilling noise rather than a cheep.

It scared the heck out of me. I was only holding him for about a minute, could I have overheated him? He is used to being cuddled and I always check his heartbeat for signs of stress. What happened?

 

[Eggcessive]

Is it possible that you were holding him with your hands around his breast and wings, and he wasn't getting enough oxygen? I would make sure that he was drinking water. Someone else on here reported a similar happening recently, and after some time, fully recovered. I hope he recovers.

 

[sharonp53]

Oh thank you so much. That does make sense. I was holding him and he started to struggle I was afraid of dropping him so held him a little tighter. I feel so stupid!

He is very quiet this morning and not eating much, before he ate non-stop, and there is a large amount of poop in his box. I have mealworms, which he loves and he is drinking well. I will keep him quiet and see how he goes.

I do hope he recovers. I feel so helpless and angry with myself. Thank you for your help and support.

 

[Eggcessive]

You're welcome, and I really hope he is fine tomorrow.