Two problematic chicks, 1-2 days old

[ZazasMom]

Hi there! We hatched a few chicks over the weekend, 13 made it (yay!) but 2 of them are having problems:

Chick 1 (Chipmunk) hatched Saturday and has a weird thing going on with her neck. Her head is mostly tilted to the right, although there is no restriction of movement. It almost seems like she doesn’t have well developed neck muscles. Her head slowly flops back sometimes, at which point she loses her balance, falls on her back and has a hard time getting up. She’s acting quite normal otherwise, climbs onto my hand, is pooping, but I haven’t seen her eat or drink yet. I dipped her beak in the water once and she swallowed in a weird way. It’s a bit freakish. I’m hoping she just needs to train her muscles to live a normal life. Has anyone experienced something like this before?

Chick 2 (yellow) hatched Sunday night and had a hard time getting out of the egg. She stayed in the incubator all night and today until about 5pm. She was connected to the egg through her belly button until I moved her into the brooder tonight, at which point I snipped the cord off gently with my finger nail. It was dry and I believe I didn’t pull off anything, but it has been bleeding a little bit. Her belly button is a fairly big ballon. She has also been quite lethargic, sleeping a lot, and a part of her back hasn’t fluffed up yet.

I really want to give both of them a chance, but don’t want them to suffer. Any advice would be very much appreciated! Thanks in advance!

 

[MadamContrary]

The first is likely wry/sway neck. It can be neurologically based or from poor nutrition in the breeding stock. You can add chick specific vitamins (and electrolytes, sometimes they are combined in one product, sometimes two separate) to the water to improve her chances. I've had a chick live and thrive, but that's not the case if they can't eat and drink on thier own at some point.
I think the second has a hernia or not fully absorbed yolk, but I have no person experience with solutions for that. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will chime in.

 

[ZazasMom]

The first is likely wry/sway neck. It can be neurologically based or from poor nutrition in the breeding stock. You can add chick specific vitamins (and electrolytes, sometimes they are combined in one product, sometimes two separate) to the water to improve her chances. I've had a chick live and thrive, but that's not the case if they can't eat and drink on thier own at some point.
I think the second has a hernia or not fully absorbed yolk, but I have no person experience with solutions for that. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will chime in.

Thank you so much! I will google the wry/sway neck. But this sounds like both have lesser chances than I hoped. Chick 2 did not look much better this morning, still lethargic

Does anyone else have some more insight?

 

[Chicalina]

I agree wry neck. Feed vitamin E capsules, one a day.

Also yes to hernia or prolapse. Watch and care. I might try a little haemorrhoid cream to shrink it but I am always a bit interventionist.

 

[ZazasMom]

Thank you guys for your tips! It breaks my heart, but I decided that it was best for Chick 2 to end her suffering. It’s Day 3 and I have seen no improvement. She‘s been lethargic and every now and then trying to stand on shaky legs to avoid laying down - I imagine it hurt her to lay on that sac. I also simply don’t have that much time for extensive care. She’s in a better place now.

As for Chick 1, she made an amazing recovery all by herself! I had not gotten to the feed store yet to buy the vitamins (which I will still do), but today she was ready to join her friends in the big brooder. After a half hour of complaining she integrated well, and is actually quite feisty with the others! Look at her standing her ground at the feeder (she’s the second on the left, next to yellow), when 4 days ago she was sitting in the incubator staring at the sky!

Bittersweet ending for these two, but I’m grateful for the experience. All part of the chicken game, right?