two week old chick-breathing heavy and chirping on exhale

[moglet]

Hi Wyorp Rock
So far so good with Pekin chick, seems to be putting a little weight on in last 2 days 34 grams now, hope it carries on, she liked the wet mash as you suggested thank you for that advice, I also crushed some mealworms up into it and she ate a few of those too. Really hoping she is turning the corner but still has a lot of catching up to do! Picture took yesterday with her sibling!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi Wyorp Rock
So far so good with Pekin chick, seems to be putting a little weight on in last 2 days 34 grams now, hope it carries on, she liked the wet mash as you suggested thank you for that advice, I also crushed some mealworms up into it and she ate a few of those too. Really hoping she is turning the corner but still has a lot of catching up to do! Picture took yesterday with her sibling!

She is so adorable

(both of them are). I'm glad to hear that she is still with you and making some progress.

I hope she continues to grow and put on some more weight. Thank you for the update and photo

 

[moglet]

Thank you too for your help, even if "she" turns out to be a "he" and everything goes well she/he is definitely staying here!! all chicks are so sweet, but I've got a soft spot for the weak ones.

 

[moglet]

Hi Wyorp Rock!
Little Chocolate Silver Laced Pekin Bantam has shot up from 30 grams to 59 grams as of today, running round and doing normal chicky things now, can't believe she has turned the corner (fingers still crossed!) picture below. Thank you for helping me through this!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi Wyorp Rock!
Little Chocolate Silver Laced Pekin Bantam has shot up from 30 grams to 59 grams as of today, running round and doing normal chicky things now, can't believe she has turned the corner (fingers still crossed!) picture below. Thank you for helping me through this!

Oh WoW! Such a big improvement in 5days. Looking healthy and sweet

I'm so glad she is putting on weight and growing, you did very well taking care of her!
Thank you so much for the update.

 

[moglet]

Thank you! I'll keep sending more updates as hopefully she goes from strength to strength! she's really friendly too.

 

[JackieGiberson]

Hi There,

Just wondering how your chick made out. I have a 4 day old Bielefelder who is also breathing very heavily with her beak open even while sleeping. The other chicks in the brooder are fine, so I don't think it's too hot and there is plenty of room to move away from the heat lamp. She is eating and drinking a little and I have put electrolytes in their water. No sneezing or discharge. These are my first chicks so not sure what else to do for her!

 

[moglet]

Hi Jackie
Really good news on my chick, she got over the heavy breathing and the "snicking" noise she kept making on exhalation, she then occasionally started breathing with her beak open, but no discharge from eyes or nose and stopped the noise on exhaling. I took her to the vets who listened to her chest with a tiny stethoscope as she only weighed 30 grams. She said her chest was clear and couldn't hear any crackling. The vet didn't prescribe any medication as she didn't find anything to warrant it so told me to bring her back if she got any worse. I put her in a separate brooder with one other chick for company as the others were bumping into her and knocking her over as she was so small. I also put a heat pad in for her to sit on (one of those you put I microwave for 6 minutes to heat up). The brooder box was about 27 degrees C. I put vitamins in the water and she drank ok but didn't seem very interested in chick crumbs so I kept sprinkling some on the floor of the brooder to encourage her to eat. Sometimes she ate some and sometimes just picked the crumbs up and dropped them. I tried her with some mealworms and threw them in front of her and the other chick, launched at them and this encouraged her to do the same, she went mad for them! so I carried on giving her a few at a time as I didn't want her to "overdose" on mealworms as they don't contain many vitamins like the chick crumbs but it did get her interested in eating and after a week or so she ceased the open beak breathing and carried on putting on a gram a day. She is now 7 weeks old and is still smaller than the others but she is catching up, they are all in a run outside under our barn to protect them from the wind and she runs about just like the others. I also didn't put any wood shavings in the brooder as I did wonder if this caused her to react as the heavy breathing seemed to almost start when I put some dust free wood shavings in, instead of paper towels, so I reverted back to just kitchen towels. Hope this helps Jackie and your little chick comes round. Let me know how he/she goes on.
Carole

 

[joannes]

Hi There,

Just checking back in, our chick made it--the heavy breathing and chirping stopped after about a week and she's fine. The changes we made were Apple Cider Vinegar in the water alternating with electrolites and nettle tea. We bought Cocid medicine just in case, but never used it.

Stripey is about 10 weeks old and no current issues.

Thanks all for chiming in.
Joanne

 

[JackieGiberson]

Thanks Carole, little "Wheezy" is still kicking! She is much smaller than her siblings, and still breathes much more rapidly but is no longer keeping her beak open and is active and growing! I think she will be fine!