Sick, lethargic week old chick. Help

[FlockFinderWest]

On Friday I picked up two bantam frizzle chicks. I got them at delivery so they were only 2-3 days old. Everything was fine and they were both active and eating until Saturday night where I noticed my yellow chick was having watery diarrhea. Since then she has not improved and is sleeping a lot. She eats a little and I have to help her drink. Her sibling is completely fine. This morning I weighed them and her sibling is 27 grams while she is only 19. I have tried feeding egg yolk as well as added a bit of acv and sugar to their water. I don’t think it is coccidiosis as there is no blood in the stool and they are only 5-6 days old

 

[Ridgerunner]

They don't have to have blood in the stool for them to have coccidiosis. You read that all the time on this forum but it is just not true. But at that age it is not a coccidiosis problem. It takes a while for coccidiosis to develop.

What it sounds like is a failure to thrive. For whatever reasons (often some type of internal birth defect) some chicks are just not meant to make it.

But that does not mean you give up. Is she eating what you give her? The way I treat a chick like that is to put a drop of liquid on the tip of her beak for her to drink. Some people use electrolytes of some sort. Some use sugar water. I use hummingbird liquid since I always have some on hand. I give her drops of the hummingbird liquid until she has enough and quits drinking it. The idea is that she will get enough energy from it so she feels like eating and drinking. I've used the same method on a grown hen that had quit eating and drinking. It's worked about half of the time.

 

[FlockFinderWest]

They don't have to have blood in the stool for them to have coccidiosis. You read that all the time on this forum but it is just not true. But at that age it is not a coccidiosis problem. It takes a while for coccidiosis to develop.

What it sounds like is a failure to thrive. For whatever reasons (often some type of internal birth defect) some chicks are just not meant to make it.

But that does not mean you give up. Is she eating what you give her? The way I treat a chick like that is to put a drop of liquid on the tip of her beak for her to drink. Some people use electrolytes of some sort. Some use sugar water. I use hummingbird liquid since I always have some on hand. I give her drops of the hummingbird liquid until she has enough and quits drinking it. The idea is that she will get enough energy from it so she feels like eating and drinking. I've used the same method on a grown hen that had quit eating and drinking. It's worked about half of the time.

I did go ahead and give her some sugar water yesterday. Yesterday she was eating her crumble and did have a full crop. She refused to eat any of the egg however. This morning I’ve not seen her eat much. She runs out of her sibling leaves but quickly goes back under the brooder plate

 

[aribubbs]

Hello! So I’ve had 3 hatches from incubator and had one or two weak babies in each hatch. I use a small pipette and feed a mix of water and egg yolk by placing a tiny drop on the edge of their beaks and waiting patiently until they’ve swallowed.
Take an egg yolk (yolk only) and add sterilised or bottled water until it’s runny enough that it’s not going to be too thick for chick to swallow. I pass mine through a sieve to remove the yolk sack.
I do this every hour or so through the day. Once they’re stronger and showing signs of interest to eat, I move to scrambled egg yolk and continue supplementing that a few times a day. I’ve not lost any so far this way despite having some very lethargic babies.
Best of luck and let us know how she goes…

 

[FlockFinderWest]

Hello! So I’ve had 3 hatches from incubator and had one or two weak babies in each hatch. I use a small pipette and feed a mix of water and egg yolk by placing a tiny drop on the edge of their beaks and waiting patiently until they’ve swallowed.
Take an egg yolk (yolk only) and add sterilised or bottled water until it’s runny enough that it’s not going to be too thick for chick to swallow. I pass mine through a sieve to remove the yolk sack.
I do this every hour or so through the day. Once they’re stronger and showing signs of interest to eat, I move to scrambled egg yolk and continue supplementing that a few times a day. I’ve not lost any so far this way despite having some very lethargic babies.
Best of luck and let us know how she goes…

Thank you, raw egg yolk is ok? Or should it be cooked and powdered before adding to water

 

[aribubbs]

Thank you, raw egg yolk is ok? Or should it be cooked and powdered before adding to I

Thank you, raw egg yolk is ok? Or should it be cooked and powdered before adding to water

Yes, raw egg yolk, just watered down a little. You could use a syringe or even your finger if you don’t have a pipette.

 

[FlockFinderWest]

Thank you to everyone who gave suggestions, sadly my little poppy passed away in my hands today in the afternoon. I will bury her in the yard under some flowers

 

[TwoCrows]

Thank you to everyone who gave suggestions, sadly my little poppy passed away in my hands today in the afternoon. I will bury her in the yard under some flowers

 

[aribubbs]

I’m so sorry to hear that :-( it’s such a sad feeling hey. I hope you’re able to find her buddy some company soon x

 

[FlockFinderWest]

I’m so sorry to hear that :-( it’s such a sad feeling hey. I hope you’re able to find her buddy some company soon x

Thank you, Her friend was distraught over her absence. I did go and get two more friends for the remaining one and they are getting a long very well. Hopefully this is the end of any chick troubles