Would you cull for constant chirping? updte: blind.. what now? #12

[taprock]

I have a two week old cochin chick who has had problems. She had a splay leg that we splinted and she can walk now with a wide stance. She chirped constant for the first three days until I taught her to eat and drink. She went from the frantic chirp to a contented peep. Then she had some crop issues, very hard and huge. Now things seem better but she is half the size of the other chicks and the last two days she has started her frantic chirping again. She tries to hid under the larger chicks. I was told chirping meant something was wrong. She is eating, drinking, pooping and her crop goes up and down in size. The only thing is the constant frantic chirping - only time she stops is when sleeping, although I have seen her chirping when her eyes were closed. My worry is that she is in pain some way. I am very torn on what to do and listening to her pathetic chirping is very difficult.

 

[greenbottle27]

oh gosh... i have zero experience, the only thing i can offer you are my positive thoughts and... wings crossed that somebody can give you some insight.

 

[tryingtohaveitall]

I'm an animal optimist, I guess. I had one small chick that I felt like had constant problems with pasty butt and was much smaller than her "sibs". After a while, the pasty butt cleared up and she's caught up with the others and is fine. So I like to give them every chance. I also had another one a year or two ago that a bigger hen scalped. With medication and isolation, she recovered fully.

 

[ginger c.]

give her some more time, when we got our 2 silkies we lost one to who knows what within three days and had to replace her so that Louise wouldn't be alone. she(Louise) did what it sounds like your chick is doing franic peeping almost non-stop, she tried to burrow under the new silkie (Piper). she had a nasty bout with pasty butt, and it seemed like it would never end. we put a smallish stuffed animal in with them, which they snuggled with and eventually used as a roost (mr. lemur is still in their brooder). anyway after a week Louise started to calm down, she reverted to the franic chirping only when we washed her bum, and now she's fine, happy, healthy and growing like a weed.
so hang in there and hopefully your little one will pull through!

 

[BrattishTaz]

She may be chirping because she is cold. Have you to tried holding her closer to the heat lamp for a minute to see if she will stop?

 

[taprock]

Quote:
She stops if I hold her covered in my hand. I did lower the light a little, I figured the other chicks could move farther away - which they did but she wouldn't stay by herself, instead she followed them and tried to burrow under them.

 

[zazouse]

Is it possible that she is blind?
I raised a blind chick and she did the same thing, she is now a happy healthy hen that lives amongest the free ranges is a pen and gives me an egg every day

 

[taprock]

Quote:
I had considered her being blind earlier but I really couldn't really determine one way or the other. How did you know she was blind?

 

[AccentOnHakes]

Quote:
I had considered her being blind earlier but I really couldn't really determine one way or the other. How did you know she was blind?

Try taking her out and placing some food in front of her, see if she will peck at it. Not sure how well that would work, though.

If she's cold but doesn't want to leave the other chicks, how about putting a small stuffed animal near the heat lamp? Don't put it too close because of fire hazards, but close enough that she can snuggle with it but still be warm.

 

[BigDaddy'sGurl]

Don't feel bad for wondering if you should cull: I have a silkie X chick that is the same way. He/She is in a brooder with a mother hen and 10 hatchmates and I still hear it at all hours of the day and night...and it is 2 1/2 weeks old...I'm honestly considering whether the long term benefits outweigh the cons of keeping it here...

it's slow-growing and unhappy most of the time...