Lazy or lethargic chick?

Redchickmom

Hatching
Apr 24, 2024
7
2
4
First time chick mom, we recently got chick's and while one of them is growing steadily(she's actually the biggest out of the bunch we got), she eats and drinks well but she seems to mostly just lay around and not do much. While the others are active and running around she'll join for like a minute or so then just lay back down. Is this normal behavior and she's just lazy and I'm being a worrier or is this signs of lethargy and I should be concerned?
 
:welcome Glad you joined and congrats on the chicks!! How old are they? More info. will REALLY help and a pic of your brooder set up and chick would be excellent. I'm going to say "maybe." It's normal at first when/if they're exhausted from shipping. But if suddenly she is lethargic and looking sort of "puffed up," it could be coccidiosis. No need to panic as you're in the right place but you may need to act if it is. What are you feeding? What sort of temps are going on? Sorry for so many questions but this place is happy to help and the more info. the faster... :)
 
:welcome Glad you joined and congrats on the chicks!! How old are they? More info. will REALLY help and a pic of your brooder set up and chick would be excellent. I'm going to say "maybe." It's normal at first when/if they're exhausted from shipping. But if suddenly she is lethargic and looking sort of "puffed up," it could be coccidiosis. No need to panic as you're in the right place but you may need to act if it is. What are you feeding? What sort of temps are going on? Sorry for so many questions but this place is happy to help and the more info. the faster... :)
I have no problem with the questions, I appreciate any help I can get. They're a few weeks old, we got them from tractor supply almost 2 weeks ago. We have them in a brooder box with a heat lamp. All the other chick's seem very healthy and active and as I mentioned she's growing very well and eating and drinking without any issues but she is very lethargic and is even more so since I made the original post. I looked up more information on coccidiosis and I have made sure to keep everything as clean as possible for them but the symptoms do seem very similar. I'm worried about how lethargic she's gotten today but I did see there was a treatment I can get at tractor supply and want to get that for her first thing in the morning. If there's any other suggestions or anything recommended to do tonight in the meantime I'd greatly appreciate it! Thank you again.
 
Do you have photos of her and her poop?

I agree, I'd start treatment for Coccidiosis and see if that helps.

Liquid Corid dose is 2tsp or Powdered Corid Dose is 1 1/2tsp per gallon of water given for 5-7 days as the only source of drinking water.
Do not add any extra vitamins/electrolytes that contain B1(Thiamine) to food or water during the course of treatment.
 
Do you have photos of her and her poop?

I agree, I'd start treatment for Coccidiosis and see if that helps.

Liquid Corid dose is 2tsp or Powdered Corid Dose is 1 1/2tsp per gallon of water given for 5-7 days as the only source of drinking water.
Do not add any extra vitamins/electrolytes that contain B1(Thiamine) to food or water during the course of treatment.
I don't have pictures of her poop but I have a few of her. It did seem like her poop was soft/runny. She's just laying around mostly and seems like shes breathing kinda hard. I'm keeping an eye on her for the night until I can get the treatment for her tomorrow, hopefully I'm not too late getting it. The rest of the chick's are acting normal but can they have the treatment as well?
 

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Yes on the other chicks. When you start Corid it's good to do a "drench" with the sick chick and put it in water for all of the chicks. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/corid-oral-drench-instructions.1211991/ and like Wyorp said, make sure to not give anything other than chick starter food. Poor little gal I hope she pops out of it. Do you know what temps they're in ? Thermometer in brooder? Any pasty butt ?? Chicks can go through all kinds of stress while at TSC.
 
Yes on the other chicks. When you start Corid it's good to do a "drench" with the sick chick and put it in water for all of the chicks. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/corid-oral-drench-instructions.1211991/ and like Wyorp said, make sure to not give anything other than chick starter food. Poor little gal I hope she pops out of it. Do you know what temps they're in ? Thermometer in brooder? Any pasty butt ?? Chicks can go through all kinds of stress while at TSC.
It's at 80°/79° right now, from what I've looked at and estimating their age I believe that's the right temp for them(hopefully I'm right and not hurting them more with that, they're spread out and not huddled up like I've looked for of signs of them being cold and not all panting or showing signs of overheated so I atleast believe that's right). I've gotten them corid as well as prior to that put apple cider vinegar in their water, again I looked up and did research and from what I saw that's good to help clear out anything in their system. I haven't seen pasty butt on her, I've been making sure to keep everything clean and when I did see any feces on her or any of the other chick's I made sure to clean it off with a warm washcloth. I know it's impossible to believe I can prevent losing all chicks/chickens but I've definitely grown attached to her and really hope she'll recover so I really appreciate all yalls advice and help.
 
Yes on the other chicks. When you start Corid it's good to do a "drench" with the sick chick and put it in water for all of the chicks. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/corid-oral-drench-instructions.1211991/ and like Wyorp said, make sure to not give anything other than chick starter food. Poor little gal I hope she pops out of it. Do you know what temps they're in ? Thermometer in brooder? Any pasty butt ?? Chicks can go through all kinds of stress while at TSC.
Oh also I'm sorry I forgot to answer again, I've been feeding them Purina start & grow chick feed. With her being under the weather I got them the medicated kind to hopefully help build up antibodies and vitamins to help fight it off as well.
 
You're doing a great job! Everything sounds good. So let's hope the Corid treatment does the trick! You can add water to their starter to make a mash, they love that, but don't do ACV while on Corid.
Thank you! I really appreciate all the help and advice! I also got electrolyte powder for their water to just help her. I haven't given it to her yet I just wanted to make sure that would be okay for her and if so is it okay for the healthy chicks too or should I just give it to her?
 

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