Failing to thrive chick
Our take
| | I need some advice. My 10 yo son really wanted a polish chicken to add to our flock this year. We have looked everywhere for one. We kept missing them at the feed stores and no one had any on Facebook. Yesterday we stopped by a feed store to get some layer feed, and wee stopped by the chicks. They had one polish left. He was so excited. When I looked at it, I could tell it wasn't doing very good. He begged for it and said he wanted to try and save it. The lady gave it to us at a discount and I got two other chicks for companions. It won't eat. I have been successful with water. I gave it sugar water after we got it and it perked up. I did see it pick up two pieces of crumble, but I don't think it ate them. I have tried cooked egg yoke, and then raw egg white. It didn't eat those either. I mixed electrolytes, water and chick feed into a mash. It won't eat the mash, but drinks the water from it. I have been holding it on my lap, under a heated blanket. I let it drink the water from the mixture every time it wakes up. After it drinks, it gets sleepy and goes back to sleep. It has been having bowel movements. Last night I held it for as long as I could and then I put it with the other chicks to sleep for the night. It made it through the night. It's acting the same today as it did yesterday. I offered it the mash again this morning, but it only drank the water and went back to sleep. I don't think it's going to make it, but I want to give this guy a chance. Is there anything else I can offer it? It needs to eat to survive. I explained to my son before we bought the little guy, some chicks never thrive and it can be for a number of reasons. I wanted him to be prepared for the worst-case scenario. I'm cautiously optimistic since it made it through the night. But if it doesn't start eating, I don't think it will make it. I need to know what people have had success with, so I can try that as well and give this guy the best shot at life that I can. Any advice it welcome. [link] [comments] |
Read on the original site
Open the publisher's page for the full experience
Related Articles
- Need advice: sick chickenFirst picture is yesterday: She was weak, with her eyes closed shut, panting. Gave her electrolytes and vitamins with water via syringe and Ticon S. Second picture is yesterday night: I thought she would pass on her sleep, but she stopped panting and actually started making sounds and slept through the night while repositioning her neck and moving away from the fan that was near her to keep her from panting. Third is today: She’s still fighting, I can feel she’s tired but she moves her head and has stood up to reposition. No eyes opening yet, but she hasn’t had anything to eat today or drink. I tried tempting her to drink with droplets and on her beak but that didn’t work. I’m thinking on doing subcutaneous fluids, not sure yet. Any recommendations? I have no avian vet near me. Thank you in advance. submitted by /u/strawberryredittor [link] [comments]
- lethargic, weak chickenhello! we are looking for some help on one of our chickens, if anyone has the knowledge. can anyone provide any kind of help? is she a lost cause, are we are delaying her death? be kind, please, our layers are not like our broilers - they are our pets on wednesday, my parents found one of their hens wrapped up in some netting in their horse barn. we are estimating that she had been trapped out there for 1.5-2 full days, as she was swamped in her own feces and severely dehydrated. yesterday (friday) i came over after work and we did some research on how to bring her back to full health. last night we observed that she had no movement in her right claw, and minimal movement in her wings. we moved her to a warm, dark space separate from the other chickens, with a heat lamp and fresh pine shavings as well as a towel for upright support. she was extremely lethargic with no strength, and very light in weight. we gave her 10ml of water mixed with egg yolk + a small amount of salt for calories/electrolytes via a dropper. between then and now, she has been checked on every couple of hours. tonight she is able to move her wings, but still not her right claw - though she is able to move the leg itself. i'm not sure how to add videos here but i did attach two pictures. questions? suggestions? pointers? submitted by /u/Maleficent-Gap-4601 [link] [comments]
- Need help with new chick!I got 10 chicks today in the mail. They all seem great expect for this little guy. He was drinking and eating about an hour ago but seemed a little more clumsy than the others. I just came and checked on him and he was laying upside down in the shavings. Doesn’t seem to be doing too good. You think it’s a lost cause? Any ideas on how I can help? submitted by /u/Gravitys_Bitch [link] [comments]
- Is there any hope in saving her? Please read (Warning: graphic close up of vent in 3rd pic)*First and foremost: my one vet who would see her called in sick today and is unavailable for the next couple of weeks (had to reschedule my dog and cat as it is, ugh).* This is Rebocka, our 3yro Rhode Island Red. I noticed she was standing off by herself a few days ago and she’s seemed more and more isolated in the days since. When I picked her up yesterday (that she couldn’t get away from me is alarming in and of itself), I was horrified at how emaciated she was under her fluff—she is just skin and bones. :( She is also very pale and anemic—I thought at first (last week or two) her pale comb just meant she wasn’t laying, but yesterday on top of everything else I was observing I realized *all* of her is pale. Her eyes are clear, vent is clear, mouth is clear (though pale), and her feathers clean and in good condition. Her crop is small, hard (probably the grit inside?), and empty. What there is of her belly is soft with no sign of egg impaction. I can find absolutely zero signs of mites or similar parasites, and the rest of the flock is their healthy obnoxious selves. I’m starting to think she is in some sort of internal disease process I can’t undo, but I’m trying to do what I can in the feeble hope it will maybe make a difference. She isn’t really eating or drinking. I swear not 4 days ago, she was greedily pecking treats out of my hand with her sister, but now she won’t really eat. I put her in chicken jail yesterday to keep her safe and under close watch and offered her scrambled egg; she ate one bite and nothing more. This morning, genuinely surprised she was still alive, I tried again with dried mealworms. I’d pry her beak open, place a mealworm just inside (NOT force feeding or shoving it far back—I know better than that), she’d finish positioning it and eat it, peck and eat a few more in her own, then stop. I offered water like I would a newly hatched baby—dipping her beak in it—and she’d have a liiiiiittle bit then stop, but would eat a little more after using the method above. I then made a slurry of warm water, one raw egg, cottage cheese, scratch feed, and quick oats, and while the rest of the flock lost their minds over it, poor Rebocka in her cage just ignored it. Any ideas and/or hope, or is this just part of the sad reality of owning chickens? submitted by /u/Ruffffian [link] [comments]