Feeding baby chick egg yolk.

[mar]

Hello,
I just received 5 new chicks. Two of them are Blue Laced Red Wyandottes. These two had a rough start and were the only survivors of their shipment. I believe they have failure to thrive. I've had them 24 hours and they starting to perk up but are still very sleepy. I have been feeding them wet chick feed and just started some egg yolk. I'm feeding them through a syringe to the side of their beak. They will drink on their own but are not interested in feeding. I'm just wondering how often I should be feeding them the yolk. Right now, I'm doing it every 2 or 3 hours about .5cc of egg yolk. But I don't know if that is often enough. Also I have been giving them one drop of nutridrench each morning. We are on day two right now. I've made sure that the brooder isn't too hot. When they aren't sleeping they will move around a little. But most of the time they are sleeping. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[ChickNanny13]

When chicks are shipped they're newly hatched, absorbing their yolk for about 3days. That could explain why they're not too hungry. You can make a mash (wet with water) with their crumbles, put a dab in their dish and with your finger tap the dish bottom. Mimics the hen showing them where the food is.

But I'm no expert so wait a bit and others will peep in.
@Lady of McCamley @Mrs. K

 

[mar]

My other chicks are running around and pecking at the chick feed. Do you think they are older than these two?

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Rough shipping will cause stress. Chick saver electrolytes and vitamins eyedroppered at least twice a day, better 3x, plus feeding mash or yolk 3x minimum.

If you can get your hands on liquid antibiotics such as Fishmox, now would be the time to use it as gut bacteria from hatch then stress is the common cause for failure to thrive after rough shipping.

LofMc

 

[mar]

What about Tylan50? I have some of that.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

That would work nicely.

 

[chickens really]

Sounds to me like different aged chicks you received. Definitely not recommended to force feed them anything. If the Brooder us warm enough and the others are running around don't start adding different things to the feed. Simple starter and fresh water is best.

 

[mar]

I lost one today. The other one is pecking more and moving more. But still not interested in the chick feed. She did peck at some yolk and ate pretty good. Crossing my fingers.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Transition stress is hard to overcome.

A few years back, another BYCer and I corresponded (can't remember her name at this moment), but she did wildlife rescue. Overtime, she studied her chicks that failed to thrive after shipping stress (necropsy). To the last one, they all had overgrowth of unfriendly gut bacteria, likely leftover from the hatching process.

I was struggling with a weak hatch, and she encouraged me to use electrolytes and antibiotics. One died, but several made it.

And I do agree, when you eyedropper, liquid is best. Also take care not to force the liquid into the lungs. The real cure is the antibiotics.

LofMc

 

[mar]

How much do you think I should give of the Tylan 50? I was reading somewhere 1/10 of a cc. Would that just be a drop from a syringe? I've given it to a full grown chicken but not a chick before.