Week old silkie spilt its water.... need advice

[huckleberryfarm]

Hi, I have several little silkies that are 7-10 days old. One has been much smaller than the others. While we were at church today, they somehow managed to spill their water. All the silkies were fine except this little one. It was lying on its side in the water/food mess. I've separated it and have it under a heat lamp. It's dry now but just lying there. It's feathers are all matted down with food. It looks awful! I'm trying to give it food and water. Should I try to clean its feathers? Just let it be? It might be fine like that. It just looks horrible. Anything else I can do? I guess it got chilled even though the heat lamp was on. It's a lav silkie and I really want to save it!

 

[calicokat]

My first thought was maybe gentle brushing with a toothbrush to get the muck out? Certainly keep it under a warm lamp, maybe some electrolites in the water for extra help.

Marbles in the waterer can help raise the level up so they can drink and not fall in, plus it weights the dish to keep it from tipping agian.

 

[Bat Cave Silkies]

Lavs are soooo easy to lose...

I would suggest adding Poly-Vi-Sol without iron to everyones drinking water....if the little Lav won't drink, dip it's beak in every time you go by the brooder. I'd also suggest you chop up a hard boiled egg and feed it to the Lav....if it won't eat, stick it's beak in the egg~~some of the egg will stick to it's beak and it will probably end up in it's mouth.

I wouldn't worry too much about the soiled feathers.....if the Lav is still damp, use a blow dryer on the low setting and "sweep" it across the baby til it's dry.

Wish you the best of luck

 

[huckleberryfarm]

Thanks, y'all. After a bout with wry neck this week, I've already been adding polyvisol to everyone's water. This silkie died. I didn't have high hopes but did pray it would recover. This is the first time I've hatched silkies. I've always bought silkies as chicks. I've hatched lots of other breeds. Silkies are really difficult.

Guess that's all part of it.

 

[SilkieTime]

Sorry for you loss.