Lethargic weak chick. Please Help

[NatureGirl74]

I had 40 eggs in the incubator. On day 19 the incubator malfunctioned and the temp spiked way too high. I ended up with 3 cockerels and 1 pullet. She had curled toes, pasty butt, wouldn't eat, and required an assisted hatch. After 2 weeks she was healthy enough to be with the other chicks. They are 8 weeks old right now. The cockerels are 2 times her size and have a lot of energy. I noticed that she sleeps on the ground at night. She won't even fly/jump 1.5 ft to get to her water. This morning she was very lethargic so I gave her sugar water. It seems to be helping a little bit. Why won't she use her wings? Is there anything I can do to encourage her?

 

[NatureGirl74]

Now, she's resting, but really weak. She falls when she tries to walk. Please help

 

[Cazook]

what are you feeding them? pic/description of her stools? how is her crop looking/feeling? does it empty at night?

i would give some nutri drench/poultry vitamins, also isolating her inside for better examination of her condition.

 

[NatureGirl74]

what are you feeding them? pic/description of her stools? how is her crop looking/feeling? does it empty at night?

i would give some nutri drench/poultry vitamins, also isolating her inside for better examination of her condition.

She has a mix of medicated chick starter and all flock. I haven't seen her poop today, but I also haven't watched her constantly. Usually it's light brown or green when they get grass. It's occasionally runny, but it suddenly got really hot this week. Her crop is empty every night and she's not eating enough for it to be full right now. She started shaking a lot. I don't think she's going to make it.

 

[Cazook]

she might accept food better if you make it into a wet mash, or give her some scrambled eggs. sometimes they like that when they refuse to eat the pellets/crumbs.

the sugar water is a good idea. if you have any electrolyte powder i would add that to the water as well.

 

[NatureGirl74]

she might accept food better if you make it into a wet mash, or give her some scrambled eggs. sometimes they like that when they refuse to eat the pellets/crumbs.

the sugar water is a good idea. if you have any electrolyte powder i would add that to the water as well.

I don't have any medical things for the chickens other than blood stop, blu kote, and mite spray. I haven't had them very long and didn't realize so many things could go wrong. Mashing food was the only way I could get her to eat after she hatched. She's so weak that I don't know if she'd be able to swallow. She's alive, but it takes a lot of energy just to open her eyes and look around.

 

[Banana01]

Seems like a developmental disability. I have some chickens like this that either start off slow and may be normal later, or else they will never act liks her brothers and sisters. I have three. One had pox as a baby that stopped his developing, another had mites and worms and her development halted, and another one had pox but had actually continued growing after a certain amount of downtime. I also have a hen that was sick and her development halted until recently she has started laying eggs after over a year.

They are all independent and normal now, but they are half sized and act differently. I hope you can provide her love and care, even though she may need a special water dish and may seem like she doesn't eat, they do manage to become normal mostly and function, but may seem disabled a little bit. She should peck around at regular food in the morning and evening, even if you don't see her eating all day. A regular routine schedule helps them also. Eating at the same time every day and going to bed the same time every night, with food before. After a while they sort of start to live more normally.

Also not all developmentally disabled chickens wi make it. But the weakness and closed eyes are normal. They really do like to eat in the morning and then sleep, maybe eat in the afternoon then sleep, and the evening and sleep. They need a lot of sleep to develop their nuero systems, just like humans regenerate with sleep.

 

[NatureGirl74]

Seems like a developmental disability. I have some chickens like this that either start off slow and may be normal later, or else they will never act liks her brothers and sisters. I have three. One had pox as a baby that stopped his developing, another had mites and worms and her development halted, and another one had pox but had actually continued growing after a certain amount of downtime. I also have a hen that was sick and her development halted until recently she has started laying eggs after over a year.

They are all independent and normal now, but they are half sized and act differently. I hope you can provide her love and care, even though she may need a special water dish and may seem like she doesn't eat, they do manage to become normal mostly and function, but may seem disabled a little bit. She should peck around at regular food in the morning and evening, even if you don't see her eating all day. A regular routine schedule helps them also. Eating at the same time every day and going to bed the same time every night, with food before. After a while they sort of start to live more normally.

Also not all developmentally disabled chickens wi make it. But the weakness and closed eyes are normal. They really do like to eat in the morning and then sleep, maybe eat in the afternoon then sleep, and the evening and sleep. They need a lot of sleep to develop their nuero systems, just like humans regenerate with sleep.

Thanks. You gave me hope for this chick. After I started the thread she looked like pic 2.(sorry, the pics won't go in the right order). We took her out and isolated her. Somehow she seemed cold. We put her in the sun and she perked up a little in pic 1.

(Again, she is alive in this pic)

 

[Cazook]

I don't have any medical things for the chickens other than blood stop, blu kote, and mite spray. I haven't had them very long and didn't realize so many things could go wrong. Mashing food was the only way I could get her to eat after she hatched. She's so weak that I don't know if she'd be able to swallow. She's alive, but it takes a lot of energy just to open her eyes and look around.

putting some table salt, sugar, sodium bicarbonate and lo-salt (potassium chloride) makes a good diy electrolyte. symptoms kinda sound like heat stress especially since you mentioned the increased heat lately.

here is a recipe i found from an article:

• 1 cup warm water
• 2 teaspoons molasses OR 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon potassium chloride* (optional)

 

[Banana01]

Maybe hold her a while, and see if she can relax. A chick laying on her side like that is usually near dying, but she may just be extremely tired. If you have a crate or box that you could cover with a blanket it will let her sleep and keep her warm, and she will probably be living in a seperate crate or box for a while.