Got baby teils need some advice 3week olds

[iamwhoiam]

He performed an x-ray, saw a enlarged organ related to the digestive tract. He still gave me some meds to give them, anti inflammatory, antibiotics, and some med to help digestion. Incase it's a blockage. Doc couldn't do much considering their age. Said most invasive examinations are life threatening to them.

Hope that the medications will help and the baby will be OK.

 

[Raid K]

You should consider covering the shavings with layers of paper towels or just remove the shavings and replace with layers of paper towels. When my babies were in the nest box the bedding was pine shavings but when I pulled them and put them in the brooder I used paper towels.

Shavings are out the window, as per my observation and vets suggestion I switched to newspapers.easier to clean daily and to monitor her bowel movements.

 

[iamwhoiam]

Shavings are out the window, as per my observation and vets suggestion I switched to newspapers.easier to clean daily and to monitor her bowel movements.

You may want to toss the newspapers and use paper towels. Better than newspaper, IMHO.

 

[Raid K]

You may want to toss the newspapers and use paper towels. Better than newspaper, IMHO.

I'm using unlaminated magazines because the paper is more resilient. I don't want her eating paper. She can't nibble on magazine paper but she can on tissue or newspaper.

 

[Mockinbirdiva]

Magazines and newspapers have ink that could be potentially harmful for the babies. I only ever used paper towels and never had an issue with a baby nibbling or eating it. Share some photos of your babies when you can.

 

[Raid K]

Magazines and newspapers have ink that could be potentially harmful for the babies. I only ever used paper towels and never had an issue with a baby nibbling or eating it. Share some photos of your babies when you can.

Please note that one of the various possibilities is that she has an inflammation or swelling, blockage in her gut due to eating wood shavings which I saw her do. She was rejecting food and eating wood shavings. I researched it, could be a bad habit, or could be that she is ready to wean Abit too early. My vendor said they were both 20 days old when I got them, however I suspect he liked as one clearly developed faster than the other. She seems to be younger.
Current suspicions being investigated:
- PDD infection (based on a swelling seen in an x-ray)
- older sibling was attacking her and stressing her (they have been separated due to that and the above to protect the sibling Incase it is a virus.
- she has a bacterial infection (vet gave her antibiotics for 5 days)
- she is eating wood shavings (nothing we can do other than hope the blockage clears and prevent her from eating more bedding. (Doc gave her a med to help digestion along with anti inflamatory med)
- she had dry formula caked on her neck and crop. (Vet crumbled and plucked the affected area. Wasn't too badly plucked just a few feathers. (Possibly vomited since we all clean them up after feeding and the amount of dry formula stuck on her chest doesnt make sense.)

I hope that helps, any tips on the above will be appreciated. I'm trusting the vet, because he is a vet however a breeding could have far more experience in the species than a vet who only read about this.

 

[Raid K]

Magazines and newspapers have ink that could be potentially harmful for the babies. I only ever used paper towels and never had an issue with a baby nibbling or eating it. Share some photos of your babies when you can.

Here are some photos, the one in the box (greyish chick) is the sick one
The yellow one in the cage is the healthy one. He flew yesterday and left me a little gift on my shoulder and on the sofa.

 

[Raid K]

Is this too much poop for 8 hours?
Changed her bedding last night. Looked like this in the morning.

 

[barry collins]

3 week old chicks haven't had any time to develop bad habits. Chicks cannot wean too early it is simply using its beak and the shavings were the only thing available. The printed paper you mentioned earlier is not a good choice as it is difficult to grip and could be toxic. I should know I'm currently sat at work printing magazines using chemicals that can melt skin writing this. A lack of good substrate grip in young chicks can lead to splayed legs so a low perch is recommended from now on or a textured flooring. I don't know what to make of the plastic box or the bottle of water but it makes me uneasy? If a chick is pooping alot then it's digestive tract is not blocked . However this is not too much poo for overnight. I doubt one was attacking the other and separating them won't help a recovery as it will almost certainly be very stressed in a plastic box on its own with just a sheet of paper and a bottle of water for company. Your breeder should not give chicks away before weaning it is very bad practice and they need siblings and parents to learn from. No vetenary advice can really be taken from this page as an examination would be needed for an accurate diagnosis of a problem. I wish you luck and hope the chick recovers. I would try putting them together again as it will aid recovery and lower stress on a poorly chick. Please research hand feeding in depth to help you out.

 

[Raid K]

3 week old chicks haven't had any time to develop bad habits. Chicks cannot wean too early it is simply using its beak and the shavings were the only thing available. The printed paper you mentioned earlier is not a good choice as it is difficult to grip and could be toxic. I should know I'm currently sat at work printing magazines using chemicals that can melt skin writing this. A lack of good substrate grip in young chicks can lead to splayed legs so a low perch is recommended from now on or a textured flooring. I don't know what to make of the plastic box or the bottle of water but it makes me uneasy? If a chick is pooping alot then it's digestive tract is not blocked . However this is not too much poo for overnight. I doubt one was attacking the other and separating them won't help a recovery as it will almost certainly be very stressed in a plastic box on its own with just a sheet of paper and a bottle of water for company. Your breeder should not give chicks away before weaning it is very bad practice and they need siblings and parents to learn from. No vetenary advice can really be taken from this page as an examination would be needed for an accurate diagnosis of a problem. I wish you luck and hope the chick recovers. I would try putting them together again as it will aid recovery and lower stress on a poorly chick. Please research hand feeding in depth to help you out.

Thank you for the above, it is very helpful. Please note that they are 5 weeks old tomorow. They both can fly now and are both in cages as I have abandoned the plastic box and only use it during feeding or cleaning to hold them temporarily. They no longer have access to the paper as it is below the cage in the tray. I made sure they are ok walking on the cage's floor prior to this change. I read in depth about hand feeding and a different pet store worker helped and gave me advice. They have been to a vet, I'm waiting for the vet to reply if a second visit is necessary. Lastly they are separated only because there was a suspicion of infectious disease. Once she gets a ok from the vet I'm putting her back with her brother.
They both have a low perch too, but since my hand has been massacred by their claws during feeding, I'm not worried about their grip