So I know it's normal for some chicks to fail to thrive, but I still hate to lose them. I have one chick, just 3 days old, who is acting not up to par. Yesterday and the day before that he was just fine, better than normal actually. Its brothers are running around wild as ever, but he's just a little bit sleepy. Slept all day while his younger and older brothers played. Every once and a while he'd get up and take off running, tackle his brother, and steal whatever the brother was eating, only to immediately sleep afterwards. It's like he wants to be a happy chick, but he's just so tired. He's also very clumsy and I frequently find him rolling around or on his back. Any suggestions? I want to try to save him, but I know sometimes that nothing can be done.
Do you have some type of chick supplement that you can add to the water? I use Quick Chik that I got from McMurray's. Just remember that the chick that fails to thrive now will possibly fail to thrive later on in life. I know it's hard, but it's all a part of keeping chickens. I wanted 100% survival myself but after 2 years back into it, I'd rather keep a totally healthy flock as opposed to having to worry that they would catch every known problem. Hoping your chick gets better! Dawn
Sometimes it just not meant to be. Is the chick is eating and drinking ok? I had one from day one that was the same way. No matter how hard I tried it still died.
You could try some sugar water --I think a table spoon mixed in a pint-2 cups- water. Be sure to dip the beak! Are you sure it is drinking? Did you notice anything in particular when it was hatched? Someone else might have a better way?
You can also try the infant vitamin drops Poly Vi Sol WITHOUT iron in them. 3 drops along the beak daily for at least a week and then reduce dosage to wean the chick off the drops. You can also try a bit of the starter made into a mash and a small bit of scrambled egg to see if you can get the chick to eat better and add some more protein to get him stronger. Also yogurt is good to add probiotics for gastrointestinal health and to build up immune system. Make sure he's warm enough, and if the others are running over him or he's off by himself--you may want to separate him out and do the above treatments until he hopefully feels better and can rejoin the others. Sometimes a buddy with them makes them feel better too or a small stuffed animal just to keep them company.
It was suggested to me with my weak chick to give her unflavored Pedialyte through a dropper every hour. I held the chick in my hand and rested her beak on my finger while dropping a drop or two by her beak. She would suck it up and swallow. You want to avoid forcing, to avoid getting the fluid in her lungs. Let her take as much as she will and then put her back in the brooder (whenever I put her back in, I would put her by her food and water to encourage her to eat and drink). At first I did it a couple times an hour and then once an hour. This made a huge difference in her behavior. She started walking around like the others and eating and drinking. She is smaller than the rest, but she is at least more active. She still sleeps more than the others, but acts normal.
Oh good! I found the right thread with all the info I need. Sorry about OPs little one, I've got one doing the same thing. Grocery store run will have a couple extra items now. Thanks for posting and good luck.
Thanks for the tips everyone! My little guy actually did a little better today, not sure what's wrong, but we'll see. Where can I find that polyvisol stuff?
I got my Poly Vi Sol at Walmart, but any drugstore or grocery store should have it. Just make sure it's the one without iron in it. They make both kinds. Glad to hear the little one is doing better! Will keep prayers going that he does better and better each day. I've used the Poly Vi Sol on 4 chicks so far and all but one made it. The one that didn't was too weak by the time I got him started on it and never did get any better but the other ones did really well. I couldn't believe the difference it made! Got the info about it on here when I happened upon the BYC website just after I got my first Orpington chicks. I can't say enough about how much BYC has helped me since day one! I've also used it on adult birds that sometimes look a little "puny" after molting and they perk right up. Good luck and keep us posted! Happy Easter!!
MoodyChicken, I've seen it at most drugstore/pharmacy departments...I'm in Canada, but you could try Walmart or basically anywhere that would sell quality infant vitamins. They are made by Enfamil (baby formula folks), and make sure it's the one without iron. That's what I keep reading, lol, so I'm passing it on in bold letters! My store where I saw it, only had the one without iron... Glad it's doing better! Hope it keeps improving. It's hard to see a chick struggle. I'm going through something similar with one of mine...
