Severely stunted chick! Absorption issue? (sad update #8)

[Diveks]

So this chick came from eggs that i hatched out where the female passed (older, experienced pair). The parents live in a large aviary with a complete diet, first time breeding in my house (they were given to me by a friend). Oh and they are lovebirds.

well the chick is severely stunted and stopped growing after a few days and its weight stayed constant. I do have prior experience in handfeeding day olds and none of them had these issues. It has 2 other chicks with it (different containers) the chick it hatched together with is more than twice its size.

this chick looks dehydrated and thin. Crop is emptying normally, i keep food in the crop all the time except for once a day fully empty. Keep itself on its back and has curled toes. Although feeding response is really good! I am currently feeding it thinner concistency that it is suppose to be after it looked to be dehydrated. Oh i do have to add it has pooping problems. Its poop gets stuck to its vent so i have to wipe it every hour.

the problem is there are no avian vets around. 1 in this country and it is a few hour drive away no way i am able to bring a young chick along. Im confused because the other chicks are growing very very quickly and even starting to open their eyes while this one looks like a 3-4 day old!

more info:
- feedings:
every 2-3 hours
Formula: Nutribird A21
Others added: pedialyte and probi-zyme (for probiotics)
Temp: 39-40 C

weight chart: (baby one is older)
Baby 1:
2.11
2.65
3.55
4.12
4.66
5.23
6.33
7.48
8.14
9.00
10.26
12.36

Baby 2:
3.00
3.72
4.30
5.15
6.00
7.10
8.36
10.62

Baby 3 (issues):
2.33
2.73
3.25
4.27
4.01
4.46
4.76
4.65

im worried the chick won’t make it! If i thicken the formula it looks dehydrated, if I don’t it might get thinner!

 

[Diveks]

Bad news suddenly the chick is going downhill fast. No will to eat

 

[Pat H]

I'm so sorry... looks like you're keeping track of everything so you 'know where you've been'...
Are the parents alive [you say the female 'passed']... I would give them a breeding rest. Maybe they're just overdoing it and the babies just don't have the energy viability to succeed. [think of a 'runt' in the litter].
Looking for @Zara to chime in...

 

[Zara]

Sorry to hear this. You are doing everything well. I also wouldn´t travel so far with such a young chick as they would likely pass away en route.
I had a slow grower in one of my clutches, she was the last hatched and grew slow, gained weight slowly, was late opening her eyes and in the end she was ok. I can only hope you have a similar success.

I´ll tag some other folks with breeding experience (thought other species, they may have something to add),
@Laurie @Mockinbirdiva @Matto @BrianB @finchly

 

[BrianB]

It's hard to say what the problem is, but it looks like you're doing everything right. I've had some smaller chicks lag behind and make me worry, then they rally and start growing like a bad weed. Before you know it, they are as big as their siblings. Sometimes they just don't make it. One this to remember when breeding is that no matter how hard you try, sometimes it's just not meant to be.

 

[Diveks]

I'm so sorry... looks like you're keeping track of everything so you 'know where you've been'...
Are the parents alive [you say the female 'passed']... I would give them a breeding rest. Maybe they're just overdoing it and the babies just don't have the energy viability to succeed. [think of a 'runt' in the litter].
Looking for @Zara to chime in...

The parents just came out of a long break. They were in a breeding cage and my friend had them in a larger community cage to give them a break before they were set free in the aviary. Honestly felt this clutch was not a good one. A week after they went in the aviary they started laying. Laid 3 eggs, one was malpositioned and passed, one is this one, and the other (the oldest chick in the list) had to be assisted out of the egg. The male is in rest right now but he did seem to find another mate.

Sorry to hear this. You are doing everything well. I also wouldn´t travel so far with such a young chick as they would likely pass away en route.
I had a slow grower in one of my clutches, she was the last hatched and grew slow, gained weight slowly, was late opening her eyes and in the end she was ok. I can only hope you have a similar success.

I´ll tag some other folks with breeding experience (thought other species, they may have something to add),
@Laurie @Mockinbirdiva @Matto @BrianB @finchly

Aw I really am hoping but this chick seemed to have given up now… will only eat 3 drops before refusing to swallow.

It's hard to say what the problem is, but it looks like you're doing everything right. I've had some smaller chicks lag behind and make me worry, then they rally and start growing like a bad weed. Before you know it, they are as big as their siblings. Sometimes they just don't make it. One this to remember when breeding is that no matter how hard you try, sometimes it's just not meant to be.

this one seems to be the latter unfortunately, every feeding they seem to eat less and less and now is refusing just after 3 drops.
I do try to remember that but it doesn’t make it less heartbreaking. Anything I can do with this chick as i dont want to let it slowly perish. Force feeding might just make it aspirate.

 

[BrianB]

this one seems to be the latter unfortunately, every feeding they seem to eat less and less and now is refusing just after 3 drops.
I do try to remember that but it doesn’t make it less heartbreaking. Anything I can do with this chick as i dont want to let it slowly perish. Force feeding might just make it aspirate.

It's hard. At some point, it becomes clear that the chick isn't going to survive no matter how hard you try. I've had to make the difficult choice to euthanize and end their suffering.

 

[Diveks]

It's hard. At some point, it becomes clear that the chick isn't going to survive no matter how hard you try. I've had to make the difficult choice to euthanize and end their suffering.

Well horrible news the chick just passed when i went to feed it… vent seems prolapsed a bit, just when i thought they were doing better this morning in 12 hours it went downhill.

maybe there was something going on with the mom and thats why she passed. She was not sick or anything and just dropped dead but maybe something was wrong internally.

 

[Zara]

I´m really sorry. You did everything you could have

 

[Tyrion]

So sorry for your loss

 

[BrianB]

I'm so sorry to hear this. You tried your best.

 

[Diveks]

I´m really sorry. You did everything you could have

So sorry for your loss

I'm so sorry to hear this. You tried your best.

Thank you for the support everyone. Guess the little one was too weak to survive… they only gained 2 grams since hatch. It doesn’t make me feel less sad though .

more information on the baby, from what i see i see bruises (2) on the head which was new. Also seem to have unabsorbed formula in the crop, And it looked dry (not yeast). the chick was defecating mostly water and that is what caused the stuck poop im guessing. Maybe the chick was mostly absorbing the water? Also the chick would have stuck gas in the crop if i didn’t help it defecate every hour.

 

[BrianB]

If the option is available to you, please get the remaining parent bird tested for avian diseases.

 

[expressmailtome]

I am sorry for your loss.

 

[sunnysmom]

I am sorry for your loss.

 

[Diveks]

I am sorry for your loss.

I am sorry for your loss.

thank you, at least they are no longer suffering..

If the option is available to you, please get the remaining parent bird tested for avian diseases.

I think i will do so! think they were tested before though but i would just in case.

 

[Diveks]

Well an update, the parents are okay! They are taking a break for a bit as i renovate the aviary.

To end this thread on a happier note though two of the babies left are now happy and healthy (one is a hybrid of a peachface and a parblue masked) I dont usually breed peachfaces but i do have one as a companion that paired up with my friends lovebird when I went out of town so i just went with it. First time mom that kept on cracking the eggs so i switched them with fake ones.

The other came from the pair of fishers from the aviary since they are in the aviary they pick their own mates so I don’t control what the babies will look like.

I think i will be keeping these babies as I have fallen i love with them after all the sleepless nights I had for them. They had splayed legs but thankfully it is fixed now (was stuck in the egg).
here are some pics:
Then:

Now:

 

[sunnysmom]

They are very cute!

 

[Diveks]

They are very cute!

i think so too! watching them grow up was incredible but I don't think I will be handfeeding any day olds anytime soon unless i need to, all the sleepless nights...