What is WITH this sick chick?

[ybmagpye]

2nd post on this week old sickie chickie. She doesn't eat on her own, seems to know how to drink - only once in a blue moon though. Unless I'm feeding her, she's sleeping. Not gaining weight, nothing in her crop I didn't put there, which is a mix of yogurt/boiled yolk/Pedialyte/sugar, given via eyedropper, hourly during the day, maybe twice a night for the wee hours. Yep, her wee butt is clean, and yep, she poos.

What the heck?! Is she going to die whatever the heck I do? I thought she might be blind, but she has a couple of times made a stab at the eye dropper - I think her eyes work. When I feed her & put the bugger down she wildly cleans her bill, then goes back to being largely uninterested in anything but sleeping.

What do I have? A diabetic chick? A goner who will die whatever I do? A hanging-in-there-fighter who will rally at the nth hour when I least expect it?

I guess I'm wondering, any of you have skill as guessing the future? Reading other-than-chicken-entrails... good guessing... phone number of a chicken whisperer?

I'm not begruding the chick her illness... just want to know wtheck!?

 

[shaggy]

lethargic

give it a little bit of corn syrup ... or sugar water ... that usually peps them up a bit

 

[ybmagpye]

Thank you... but unfortunately, it hasn't helped my little pooper. Her 'soup' contains sugar (will go back and add that to my post.

 

[shaggy]

i had one do this to me --- sometimes there really isn't any thing you can do

is it warm enough?

 

[silkiechicken]

Do you know how her hatchmates are doing? Are they doing all well and fine and is she a runt?

If you've been nursing the baby since hatch, perhaps you are keeping it alive despite some sort of internal abnormality or absorption issue?

It is up to you, but if it was my chick and 10 days have gone by from hatch and it doesn't show any signs of wanting to live on it's own, with the rest of the hatch or littermates doing fine, I would say it was failure to thrive and let her go. So many things can go wrong during development so all you can do is your best.

 

[ybmagpye]

Thanks - the brooder is at 90 degrees. I guess what I keep whinging on about is the lack of progress. When is this silly little chick (which of course, I'm nuts about after hand feeding her all blasted week) just is so strange! I keep thinking she's blind, then she'll start picking at a freckle on my arm. But will she peck at food on her own? Heck no! The better to drive human-hen-mama ballistic!

*grumble*

stupid afterhtough... maybe should have skipped the idea of fresh eggs for breakfast, adopted concept of 'cold cereal' is good 'nuff.

 

[ybmagpye]

Sucess... sort of, kinda, maybe... this morning, as I held her little spoon of chick soup she stabbed her beak at it (then beak rub, rub, rub on ground to clean gruel from beak) then it was open mouth and attempts at jabbing bill into gruel.

Is this chick blind? I can't tell if she is seeing and stabbing, or stabbing at the gruel from knowing where the spoon ought to be because we go through this every two hours.

I'm tickled she has enthusiasm for her grub now, but what???? Is she blind? I don't think she's just thick, but why doesn't she eat food when I stand her on a pile of it? Why isn't she getting this?

Adding to problems, she is now 1/2 the size of her three Godzillian sisters. They run right over her head if she's in their stampeeding way. *sigh*

I think I must have a blind chick. I live alone and work full time so this is working towards a v. sad ending. You poor chick! EAT! $%*#@!!!

 

[shaggy]

chick might be spoiled ... prefers the gruel over the chick feed

i would say to let it good and stuffed off the gruel once ... then leave it to its own devices with the chick feed

 

[Kieyamama]

I'm so curious as to how this one is gonna turn out. (as i'm sure you are too!!)

 

[ybmagpye]

Quote:
OH! I just changed this post because I think I misunderstood you when I first read your suggestion. You're saying, "Chick, eat yer' scratch darn it!" and also tellying me to quit spoiling her because if she can lay into the gruel she should be able to lay into the scratch. Big DUH from me. Thanks for the suggestion!

I think that may be a good idea. I've got my eye on her. I saw her pecking at stuff after her bath a bit ago (the bath was to get gruel off her face and crop). Now she's preening, which is a massive improvement on the little cluck.

Gees, not to be impatient but I'm hoping this situation resolves, hopefully for the better, before I go to work in a couple of days. Othewise I'm sure I'll just come home to a weak chick. EAT YOU STUPID BIRD! <- really could use some training in patience, you know?