Chick backing up after drinking.

[thecatumbrella]

Video here.

Got the chicks on Wednesday. She started doing this immediately. Improved by the next day. All seemed well until Saturday morning, when she resumed doing it. I switched their water out for electrolytes (Sav-a-Chick) in the afternoon, but by then she had improved again. They went back to plain water last night, now she's backing up again this morning. It does seem worse when she wakes up (dry throat?). It's also not every time she drinks, but frequent enough.

Any help is much appreciated.

 

[RoyalChick]

I have never seen anything like that so hopefully someone with experience will respond soon. But anticipating some of the questions they will ask:
- is she eating and pooping normally?
- is she growing in line with the others? Having a digital scale is a good idea to monitor weight gain
- does she walk normally after she has backed up?
- does she run around like the others do?
Hope it is just a quirk and all will be well.

 

[thecatumbrella]

I have never seen anything like that so hopefully someone with experience will respond soon. But anticipating some of the questions they will ask:
- is she eating and pooping normally?
- is she growing in line with the others? Having a digital scale is a good idea to monitor weight gain
- does she walk normally after she has backed up?
- does she run around like the others do?
Hope it is just a quirk and all will be well.

Hi RoyalChick.

- She otherwise eats and drinks normally, though this morning is the worst I've ever seen her with that behavior (which severely reduces how much she's taking in.)
- She looks to be growing with her two identical sisters, but I'll work on getting them weighed today. [UPDATE: Both she and her twin sister are an identical 38 grams.]
- She can walk normally and runs and plays like the other chicks. Less so this morning

We made them hot mash about 20 minutes ago, and she ate that NO PROBLEM. No backing up at all. But she's even starting to back up once she comes out from the heat plate. I'm at a complete loss. It doesn't present like any other chick ailments we've read about.

 

[Altairsky]

I have no idea what is happening, but if that happened to me I would try feed all the chicks wet food so she will get some hydration from the food.

 

[RoyalChick]

I have no idea what is happening, but if that happened to me I would try feed all the chicks wet food so she will get some hydration from the food.

Yes. Good idea.
@thecatumbrella does she back up after drinking or before? It looked like she did get some water before backing up.
It is great that she is the same weight as the others - I would monitor that closely.
One other thought I had was to try a different drinker. I know some chicks have difficulty with nipples. Maybe try giving them a shallow dish or one of those hanging open waterers. Yes they will spill a shallow dish and make a mess, but maybe she will find it easier to drink.
It really is the weirdest thing, she doesn’t seem to be in a panic when she backs up. Actually rather the opposite, she seems quite confident in her direction. Like she would be excellent at parallel parking!

 

[thecatumbrella]

I have no idea what is happening, but if that happened to me I would try feed all the chicks wet food so she will get some hydration from the food.

We're thinking the same thing. We made them hot mash from their chick feed and she gobbled it up, no problem! Still having trouble with the dry crumble though.

 

[thecatumbrella]

It really is the weirdest thing, she doesn’t seem to be in a panic when she backs up. Actually rather the opposite, she seems quite confident in her direction. Like she would be excellent at parallel parking!

That's hysterical!

We're going to test her with an open waterer and see how she does, so thank you for the idea. Of course, now she's doing great with the nipple and is struggling with dry feed (which hadn't been much of an issue until this morning).

The chick is actually gaslighting me

 

[RoyalChick]

That's hysterical!

We're going to test her with an open waterer and see how she does, so thank you for the idea. Of course, now she's doing great with the nipple and is struggling with dry feed (which hadn't been much of an issue until this morning).

The chick is actually gaslighting me

I wouldn’t put it past her!
And if dry food is an issue you can continue with mash. She already has you wrapped around her teeny tiny toes making her a cooked breakfast.
Expect to be this chicken’s devoted servant for the rest of her life!

 

[RoyalChick]

I had one other thought. If it is neurological there is a reasonable chance it is a vitamin issue.
Often B vitamins because they decay quickly and the levels may have dropped in the feed.
You mentioned you have electrolytes. I don’t think they need those. But Sav-a-Chick also has vitamins. I would mix a little of those in her mash feed over the next few days.

 

[thecatumbrella]

I had one other thought. If it is neurological there is a reasonable chance it is a vitamin issue.
Often B vitamins because they decay quickly and the levels may have dropped in the feed.
You mentioned you have electrolytes. I don’t think they need those. But Sav-a-Chick also has vitamins. I would mix a little of those in her mash feed over the next few days.

The Sav-a-Chick does list B vitamins, but we also picked up Rooster Boost Poultry Cell and Nutridrench this morning, if one of those is superior for this situation. Is it a problem if the whole brood has some? She's stimulated to eat by the others (chicken FOMO).

It's a really good idea. I have a jug of room temp water for ratio-ing supplements into, and I can use that water to make the mash!