# Chick not walking



## Irina Penanen (Jul 3, 2020)

I have a 3-4 day old chick that was delivered yesterday. She is a mystery chick that came with 15 chicks of a different breed. She is larger than them but doesn't move around much. When brought to food or water, she'll have a couple of beakfuls but rarely walks around on her own. Is there anything I can do?


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

A pic would be helpful. It might be shipping stress or it might not be. Is it staying near the heat source? 

You can try savachick if you don't already have it in the waterer. 

When they're that young there isn't much that can be done for them other than support.


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## Irina Penanen (Jul 3, 2020)

I added pictures and will try to get her to drink some more savachick. She's the light brown one, I am really worried because she was lying on her side and seemed in really bad shape, some electrolyte water helped though.


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## Irina Penanen (Jul 3, 2020)

Does anyone know if it is shipping stress? I want her to recover and she needs to eat and drink but I don't know how to make sure she eats and drinks without stressing her out.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Make peep up a wet mash of her chick food. Make it thin enough that you can feed it to her like the savachick. 

I keep Kaytee Exact Hand rearing formula around here here for incidences like this. It helps when they're not eating on their own if there's any chance of pulling them back.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Irina Penanen said:


> Does anyone know if it is shipping stress? I want her to recover and she needs to eat and drink but I don't know how to make sure she eats and drinks without stressing her out.


Just take your time when offering food or water. I know you want to do all of the right things for such a little one but far too often we can't stop whatever the process is that's causing them to struggle.

It could have been shipping stress but it should be trying to make some advancements by this point.


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## Irina Penanen (Jul 3, 2020)

I'd hoped that she would improve overnight...
The other chicks often step on her and she usually doesn't do much. If she hasn't moved in half an hour, I'll try making a thin mash for her, but I don't want to bother her too much.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I hate to be negative about peep's chances but they are very low. 

I wouldn't worry too much about bothering baby. They need regular nutrition and hydration so encouraging it to eat is preferable to leaving it. It might be the boost it needs.


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## Irina Penanen (Jul 3, 2020)

I know she probably won't recover but I want to at least try to keep her alive.


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## Irina Penanen (Jul 3, 2020)

I tried feeding her mash, she didn't have much but I'll give her electrolytes soon.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

You can mix the savachick solution in with the crumbles. Keep it watery so that you can get some amount of nutrition and fluids into her. 

I don't fault you for trying, I think all of us have given our all to help the littlest ones. It took a lot of heart break to finally realize that when they are so young we're really at a loss on how to help. And so limited on what we can do.


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## Irina Penanen (Jul 3, 2020)

The brooder is a bit cool for them, I'm going to see if adding a heat source helps.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Something as simple as a bell lamp with a 65 watt red bulb at the right level is very effective. I used a camera tripod to hold mine. I could raise and lower it as needed. 

I really wish I had known they had no heat source.


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## Irina Penanen (Jul 3, 2020)

They have a heat source that gets them to 87-88, I'm just hoping to get it to 90-95. I'm sorry, I should have clarified earlier.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Well, you figured out that the heat source wasn't enough. Hopefully you'll have what you need on hand to fix it.


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## Irina Penanen (Jul 3, 2020)

It's now 98ish degrees on that side of the brooder, she's still not active but hopefully it helps.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Did the other migrate to the heat source? 

Make sure she's not in a spot where she gets too warm. Panting will be a hint that she needs to be moved a bit.


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## Irina Penanen (Jul 3, 2020)

The others are spread out fairly evenly, I'm really not sure how she is though.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

That's the worst part of it, isn't it? 

I have nine keets my Guinea hen hatched. One is small, really small. Wings dragging the ground small. I can't do anything for it except making sure the others don't trample it at feeding time. Momma is still too defensive for me to try to get it to trust me enough to eat with me guarding it.


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## Irina Penanen (Jul 3, 2020)

Congrats on the baby birds! I hope the one recovers.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

It's a failure to thrive. It's usually terminal but I'll do what I can to protect it while it's still moving around easily. And thank you, keets are the most adorable little creatures.


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## Irina Penanen (Jul 3, 2020)

Unfortunately, my chick is just lying on her side. I've done what I can to protect her from being trampled by the others, and I tried to feed her some savachick but she hasn't improved at all...

She's almost definitely going to die.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I know it's hard. We want to be able to save them all. I wish there was more we could do for them when they are so young. 

We've all talked about this type of situation. The conclusion is that there is probably an internal birth defect that we have no hope of fixing.


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## Irina Penanen (Jul 3, 2020)

I could tell she was out of it from when I saw her in the hatchery box, I suppose I've done all I could though.


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## Irina Penanen (Jul 3, 2020)

I could tell she was out of it from when I saw her in the hatchery box, I suppose I've done all I could though.


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## Irina Penanen (Jul 3, 2020)

Well, just went to check on her and she's dead...
She would have been such a beautiful bird.


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## Sylie (May 4, 2018)

I am so sorry Irina, you tried so hard, I wish there was more that we could do as chick parents but sometimes, it's just not meant to be. Again, I'm sorry *hug*


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## Irina Penanen (Jul 3, 2020)

Thank you, I still have 15 beautiful birds that will get more attention now. Brownie will be dearly missed though.


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## Sylie (May 4, 2018)

I understand, I have lost several new babies in the past, they never leave your heart.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I'm sorry, Irina. You cared, you tried and it will hurt each time it happens. 

Having the others will help soften the hurt.


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