Very ill baby chick. Broken neck? Idk- experience lacking, need help!

[Justafarmgirl]

I found a baby chick(The giant of the batch) sick about a week ago, she was just sitting under the lamp for two days straight. So I noticed she hadn't moved so brought her inside(Assuming she was just super cold). Put her in a box with some fresh straw, water and feed. I noticed she wasn't eating or drinking and then realised she hadn't moved again. Shes breathing pretty raggedly at this point, so I forcefed her some sugar-water with dissolved feed in it every 4 hours for a day. Her eyes were bleary and watery and she abrely opened them.
This continued for two days.

After this, she STILL isn't moving but I can hear her occasionally flutter a wing or shift a leg to get more comfortable in her box, but I have to lift her neck for her to drink and feed her. Her eyes are much clearer- she's going to the bathroom jsut fine, and she has the strength to hold her neck up a little bit, but not an inspiring amount. Its been a week and she seems pretty cognicient of whats going on around her- but I just don't know- whats wrong with her? We're thinking maybe she broke her spine or something?? I feel awful saying this but I don't have the time to take care of a disabled chick and I don't know what to do

I had to give her a bath today because she hasn't preened in over a week and she had quite a bit of fecal matter plastered over her back end.
If it has anything to do with anything, I noticed alot of her feathers were missing from her back and neck?

Please help, I'm at a loss

 

[Judy]

She could also have Marek's which is contagious; I hope you separated her in time.

I'm afraid I would cull her, sorry. But you will have to make your own choice, of course.

 

[kelar]

The chick is too young for Mareks, but she could have an infestation of mites/lice or could have been picked on by the other chicks. If it was fine after hatch, something has happened since hatch to make it ill. Cocci is a possibility if the chick is 3 weeks or older. It will need some intensive care so if you don't have time to do this, you should probably cull. However, given that the chicks has hung in so long, it may recover. Get some polyvisol baby vitamins (the kind WITHOUT iron) and give it a few drops per day. I also mix Kaytee hand feeding formula for caged birds with softened boiled egg yolk and feed this with an eye dropper or syringe. It would be a good idea to get some electrolytes (like pedialyte) or vitamin/electrolyte solution to moisten the food.

 

[Justafarmgirl]

Quote:
I seperated her as soon as I noticed- nobody else seems to be sick, they're all running around and having a grand old time, so I don't think anyone else got it. Also I thought that Mareks was something they got later in life? They can get it at 5-6 weeks? :O Do you have a link so I can read up more on it? I'll be sooo mad if I got chickens that were sick already :X I was freaking out it might be exotic newcastle but I thought they were vaccinated for that(But I think they were all vaccinated for Mareks- i dont recall which one Mcmurray hatchery vaccinates against atm)

 

[Justafarmgirl]

Quote:
I checked her for lice- no signs, but I'm going to get her some mite powder just in case. I'm going to give her as much time as she needs because she looks like shes slowly recovering. I'll buy some pedialite today. Polyvisol baby vitamins- can I get those at my grocer, or a drug store(I'm assuming a drug store)? Thanks for your input :3 I'll mix up some egg mash and crushed vitamin with some pedialite and see how she does in three days. I've been giving her milkbread and sugarwater(Not the healthiest of things but shes been eating them without difficulty).

Thank you thank you thank you. I'm really glad you responded, I've been freaking out because shes been holding on so long and seems to be improving- I didn't want to cull the poor thing

 

[kelar]

I'm glad to hear you are going to try with the chick. It does not sound like she has a broken neck or anything that serious. Are her droppings normal? The polyvisol is readily available in the children's vitamin section at places like Walgreens. Chickens do not have the ability to metabilize milk products, so egg yolk is a very good food for babies and if you can get to a pet store, the hand feeding formula has all the vitamins they need. It mixes up to a soft crumble that is easy to feed and they love it. If you can't get that, you can soften some of the chicks starter mash with the pedialyte, add the egg yolk and vitamins and give her small amounts. They have an amazing ability to recover given a chance so hope this baby makes it.