week old chick very weak

[Icedangel11]

And another feeding of liquid mash. I'm mostly posting this here to keep time easily. He's doing even better and even walked a little bit to try and get to the others.

Poo is mostly white and clear. He's far to rambunctious to open his mouth and put food in anymore, so he's drinking it from the spoon. He even took a couple sips on his own, so I'm marking it as improvement!

How long before he'll be back to normal, do you think? And how long should I keep him on medicated feed? A week?

 

[Icedangel11]

I checked on him again. His crop is still pretty full so I'm going to give him another hour to digest. I moved the six oldest chicks (Maybe 3 weeks now? ) to the outside coop. They are healthy enough that they don't really need medicated food. They are most of their adult feathers and there is a special 'hiding box' that the chicks have that the bigger chickens can't get to. It's been warm outside so I believe they'll be fine.

Sick chick took a solid poop! It looks very normal, so I'm really happy with that. I think he's going to be okay.. At least I hope he is. I'll feed him again at 8.

 

[bumpercarr]

I checked on him again. His crop is still pretty full so I'm going to give him another hour to digest. I moved the six oldest chicks (Maybe 3 weeks now? ) to the outside coop. They are healthy enough that they don't really need medicated food. They are most of their adult feathers and there is a special 'hiding box' that the chicks have that the bigger chickens can't get to. It's been warm outside so I believe they'll be fine.

Sick chick took a solid poop! It looks very normal, so I'm really happy with that. I think he's going to be okay.. At least I hope he is. I'll feed him again at 8.

 

[Icedangel11]

I went out again to check on him, he was laying down in the warmth again. His crop was still pretty full so I didn't give him much to eat.

However I was rubbing his crop and it sounded (and felt) like an air bubble escaped and he burped a little.

Can chickens get gas!? His tummys been gurgly like he swallowed too much air or something.

 

[bumpercarr]

I went out again to check on him, he was laying down in the warmth again. His crop was still pretty full so I didn't give him much to eat.

However I was rubbing his crop and it sounded (and felt) like an air bubble escaped and he burped a little.

Can chickens get gas!? His tummys been gurgly like he swallowed too much air or something.

Have no idea if they get gas. I've never heard of it, but it would make sense since he/she probably has the bad bacteria in his digestive system. After all, when I eat something that disagrees, I get gas......it's a good question.

 

[Icedangel11]

I've went out to visit him twice since the last post. He hasn't needed much additional feeding (I gave him a few mouthfuls dry food) and again, seems to be doing better. He made another poop and it was mostly brown, with a smidge of blood in it. Not too much, but still some.

He's walking around a bit more and pecked the ground a bit. So that's good. The other chicks stay by his side and he's moving around a bit more. I'm VERY happy about that. Tomorrow morning we'll do it again and see if he's any better.

I know this is weird but.. his wings are WAY more developed than the others' wings. They all seem to be at different stages of wing growth, which is really weird to me.

 

[Mamabrinkles]

I'm so sorry to hear about your chicks. If you chick is pooping blood chances are it has coccidiosis. I even read that some avian vets believe that if you have pasty butt, you have coccidiosis. If you do, the medicated feed is not going to help at this point. Medicated feed only prevents coccidiosis, once you have it you have to treat it with Corid.

Coccidiosis is a parasite that gets into their intestines. You can buy Corid at your local farm store in the cattle aisle - it is sold for cattle.

One drop a day until you see improvement, and 2 teaspoons per gallon of water of liquid Corid. Change the water daily and treat the whole flock with the Corid water for five days.

I'm still new to this, but I have learned that if you want a sick chick to survive it takes doing exactly what you're doing, making sure that it eats and drinks and forcing it if necessary (nicely of course).

One last thing, if your husband accidentally gives your chick and entire dropper full of Corid because he thought it was the vitamin water, no worries, it won't hurt it.

 

[wermnmnmnm]

I think you are an awesome chick Mommy. I am hanging on your every word... I bring my first ever chicks home May 13,14 or 15th and I am hoping mine do not have your problems, but I will take inspiration from your story and all the wonderful advice. To begin with, I will find a store that carries all of the suggestions so far before they get here. You keep doing what you are doing and my thoughts and prayers are with you. xo

 

[bumpercarr]

I've went out to visit him twice since the last post. He hasn't needed much additional feeding (I gave him a few mouthfuls dry food) and again, seems to be doing better. He made another poop and it was mostly brown, with a smidge of blood in it. Not too much, but still some.

He's walking around a bit more and pecked the ground a bit. So that's good. The other chicks stay by his side and he's moving around a bit more. I'm VERY happy about that. Tomorrow morning we'll do it again and see if he's any better.

I know this is weird but.. his wings are WAY more developed than the others' wings. They all seem to be at different stages of wing growth, which is really weird to me.

Get Corid if you can. If there is blood in the poo, there is no doubt that cocci is the issue. Although the medicated feed will strengthen the system of the other chicks, they all need to be dosed with Corid as soon as possible to enure that they survive. This is a very common problem, usually only the weakest of the hatchlings will succumb. In the future, starting chicks on medicated feed is very important. Although some say that this isn't good, organic, or whatever, it really gives your chicks the best chance to survive to adulthood. The biggest misconception is that this feed contains antibiotics, which it does not. It only contains probiotics that help the chicks to develop the appropriate enzymes in their digestive systems to fight off cocci. No guarantee that cocci will not develop, just a better chance that it will not.

Good luck. Unfortunately, Corid is not inexpensive. Fortunately, the smallest packet that you can buy at TSC lasts a long time. Only you can decide whether to spend the money to save a chick that may not have cost as much as the Corid will. Also google for milk purge, a natural remedy, it might help (50/50 by my estimation) and is much cheaper than Corid. Keeping fingers crossed for you, I know the stress that you are under!

 

[bumpercarr]

Quote:
Depends on the breed, but most of the time the further along the feather development means a pullet, where as those that fall behind are usually cockerels. There are a lot of variables in that equation though......breed type, days to hatch, feed, you name it, it is just one of many signs for sexing.