Please help, baby chick not doing well

[Stephanie8806]

About 1 week old. Extremely sleepy/lethargic, coming up o about 24 hours. It will barely open its eyes. I’ve been using my finger nail to dropper sugar water into its mouth all day as well as water with electrolytes from a chicken electrolyte packet. It seemed to do a bit better, by about 2pm it was able to stand on its own and was walking around.

I haven’t seen it eat all day, so I started giving it some raw egg yolk as well. I’ve seen it “poop” twice, basically just clear-ish liquid.

Apart from being able to stand now, there hasn’t been improvement. It shakes its head a lot and cranes its head up. Also makes erratic movements with its head, like pecking but not at anything, and sweeping twitches like it’s trying to wipe its beak.

Does anyone have any ideas? I don’t want it to suffer but if this is just a “time will tell” situation, I can wait it out. I think it’s just weak, but if you think it might be sick, I need to separate it from our other 12 chicks

 

[Susan Skylark]

Sounds like neurological signs, any chance it got trampled or bonked its head? Stroke or blood clot is a possibility, weird but on the list. Toxicity, viral infection are also possibilities though unlikely, especially if other chicks are fine. You can try continuing nursing care for a few days and watch for improvement. I would separate it for its own sake, others will pick on and trample it, if infectious they’ve already been exposed. Rest and nursing care are the only treatment, it is up to the chick to recover or not.

 

[Stephanie8806]

I was thinking maybe neurological too… I’ve had well over 100 chicks and never had one act like this. Even with the tiny drops of water, it almost looks as if it has a hard time swallowing. Maybe it’s something it will grow out of. The head whips look like it’s trying to wipe its beak over and over, so I’m wondering if perhaps it aspirated something tiny or got water up its nose? I just don’t know.

I’m not sure if it got trampled. Physically it seems alright and the other chicks it’s with are all the same age(so, tiny). I’ve spent a lot of time watching and most of them seem indifferent to this one. It stands, walks(albeit a bit unsteadily), preens, and can scratch its face with its foot while standing without falling over. Maybe it’s just a slow starter, of maybe it’s a bit slow. Hard to tell.

 

[Debbie292d]

At a week old, there isn't really enough time for a chick to have anything catchy, yet, sometimes separating those can let them sleep more.

Had it started this on day 1, I'd have put it back in the incubator for a day so it would sleep and grow a little without being pestered by the others.

I would keep trying that raw egg yolk and put a couple of drops of NutriDrench or Poultry Cell in it. It could have a bit of a vitamin deficiency. I deal with silkies solely, and come upon one in about 30-40 that acts like this, and that's what I do, successfully.

I hope it improves!