# Help!! Baby chick weak...



## mistinichole

My hubby and I ordered some baby chicks on-line and 1 of my baby bantams seems to be real weak... It is very tiny and just lays around like it is dead!! I get it out of the brooder and I have mixed up some warm sugar water and put some of the food in the water to dissolve and feed it with a eye dropper.. It will perk up a little bit and move around a little and start chirping and then goes back to sleep! Then I start the process all over again.. Is there anything else I can do for it to help it regain strength back????? PLEASE could anybody help me out???? -Thanks-Misti-


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## 7chicks

Save-a-chick does wonders. You'll find that at any feed store. Pedialyte helps too.


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## mistinichole

Thanks so much for the info... But lost her this morning!


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## robopetz

Oh no! Sorry to hear.


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## 7chicks

I'm so sorry. They're so tiny that they go down fast when they are not well. =( Hugs!


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## mistinichole

Well we have lost 2 more chick today!!! For the likes of me I do not understand,, They are 7 days old and very active and healthy and then the next thing you know you look in the brooder and they are sitting around sleeping not very active... Then you check on them again and they are on there side dead... We have lost 8 total since Saturday.. Our brooder was at 92-93 degrees when we put them in and now we have lowered it 5 degrees today... They seem very comfortable.. Do they have some kind of disease that maybe baby chicks get that I don't know about??? Can anybody help me with this PLEASE!!!! Thanks,-Misti-
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## gallusgallus

Hi there - I took the liberty of reposting this in my fb chicken group and they had the following advice:
First of all they are on galvanized wire- depending on the quality they could be getting poisoning from the zinc.
Look at their feet, sticking through, are they getting cut? Stressed? I'd get that wire out of there and use shavings, also she should double-check that there is no cedar in the shavings. Also the wire on the side is so large predators can slink in, and it must be drafty. Most of us brood chicks in high-sided containers.
I'd be keeping it at 97-99 for a whole lot longer. And even then, I'd move a heat lamp to one end of the brooder so they can go to it if they want too. I am trying to figure out why you'd have wire in the bottom of the brooder. I have wood shavings. I recently got 10 one day old chicks. I basically did four things... wood shavings changed regularly. Clean water and food at all times (I changed their water several times a day). And I didn't take the heat lamp away from them. I moved it so they could get away from it if they wanted too, but it was always there. And I keep my brooder in the house. I never lost a bird. I wish I could offer more help. Best wishes to you and your birds.


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## Sandy

Sorry you have lost so many chicks! One thing I did notice is the feeder is not on the ground, put some in a dish so they can get around it, and use medicated feed. Your heat source is interesting, but I would choose a heat lamp that focuses the heat in one spot so they can get under it when cold and out when hot. Just be sure to attach the heat lamp securely so you don't cause a fire. I'm no expert, but I have lost a few of my own and received some good advice from others. Good luck and I hope this helps.
PS
Just noticed what seems to be pellet feed on the ground, if I'm correct take it out and give crumbles for chicks.
Also lower you thermometer to the level of the chickens, heat rises and you need to know what the temp is at the chicks level just under the heat lamp.


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## patlet

I had this heartache when I first got Embden goslings. I followed the feed store guy's advice and fed the wrong feed to my goslings and three of the eight starved to death. It was horrible! Just like you said, they were sleepy acting before dying. It looks like your chicks are not getting enough food. Crumbles are best, and put it in a feeder that's on the floor. Yes they will get in it but they need to eat eat eat. Since they're now malnourished, give them unflavored Pedialyte instead of water for a few days. Mixing the crumbles with the Pedialyte to make a mash, right now, to get them back on track. Good luck!


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## ChickenJunkie

First of all, so sorry for your loss. It's so hard when you lose babies. I agree with a lot of what's been posted. Keep the chicks in a floored and walled brooder, so they can't get drafts. Keep heat at one end so they can go to it or away from it. Keep thermometer on the floor, so you know what temp your peeps are in. If they are peeping loudly and huddling, they are cold. If they are spread out and panting, they are hot. They should be running around and making happy chick noises. Put some electrolytes, Sav-A-Chick, a bit of honey or sugar in their water. All help. I feed mashed egg yolk, ground up oatmeal and plain yogurt with chick starter the first week or two. You said you have Bantams. Some chick starter is too big for Bantams to eat. I grind it in my coffee grinder a bit for them. I also make a warm slurry of water, a bit of honey and chick starter for them the first week. They love it and seem to eat more. Keep them on paper towels or drawer mats on top of pine shavings or corn cob pellets the first week, so they don't eat the shavings or pellets. They can literally starve to death pecking at the shavings, and then they drink water and the shavings swell in their tiny tummy. Best to let them learn what is good for them to eat first, before putting them right on shavings. The food is easy for them to see on paper towels too, and they peck at the right stuff. Any poo with Cocci/Blood is easy to see too. Keep the feeders on the floor where they can all find it easily. You have a nice brooder and I'm sure it's not anything you've done wrong. Shipping can sometimes just be a huge stress on them too, especially if the weather was cold between you and the shipper. Best of luck.


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## mistinichole

*My chicks..*

Well Thanks for all the advice guys it sure comes in handy for these little one's! O.k. I put the wire in the bottom of the cage for the first 3 days because we thought we had 3 with broken legs but they had spradel legs and this help them come right out of it.. Now they have shavings in there.. Also our brooder is inside in a heated (wood stove) garage. When I ordered my chicks they were a day late and I was tring to keep the one's that was real week from dying but nature took it's course.. and we have 3 different thermo. in the cage with our baby's.. But they are all doing very well and growing so fast and so cute.. Know we are tring to figure out what kind of Bantams we have..I will take some new pics. of them and post... Thanks-Misti-


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