Hi,
I have a hatch of 17 Araucana chicks (from an incubator), and they have been fine up until now. They are 6 weeks old, and have just gone outside due to the nice weather. They have all been fine, however the other day we noticed some thing wasn't quite right. One of them, I think a girl, hasn't been moving around properly, and hasn't appeared to be eating. When we would find her, she'd be lying on her side with her legs sticking out, but whenever I tried to pick her up, she would jump up and run away. This happened for a few days, but I thought nothing else of it.
Then, last night when we were shutting them up, I noticed she was on her side again no where near the others, and was cold. I went to see her, and brought her inside. She is incredibly skinny, I can't actually feel any muscle on her at all. When I put her feet on the floor indoors, she just tipped over forwards and lay there, until I picked her up again.
Anyway, I put her in a pet carrier, and kept her in my room last night so she would be warmer, but thismorning she was very drowsy and didn't properly wake up. I put her in a bigger dog cage, and she seemed a little better. I came home tonight, and she had drunk a little, and eaten a small amount, and pooed once. She is still weak, as I went to pick her up and she keeled over again.
I'm due to be going away tomorrow, and my neighbour is going to be looking after the others. Luckily, I'm going to look after someone's farm, so I can take her with me.
Is there anything else I can do? The food I have given her is chick crumb, growers pellets, small corn, porridge, mash, and mealworms. All she has nibbled is the crumb. Any help will be very much appreciated. Thanks guys, and sorry it's so long