How to Treat Baby Chickens With the Common Cold

Baby chickens let you know when they are unhappy with a constant high-pitched chirp, meaning that they are either: cold, hungry, sick or wanting to escape from the brooder. Many chicks are abandoned; after 21 days of sitting on eggs, hens tend to walk away, leaving you with the role of being a mother. One of the issues you may come across is treating baby chickens with a common cold.

Things You'll Need

  • Brooder box
  • Lamp
  • Heating pad
  • Warm water and soft cloth
  • Cider vinegar
  • Water dish
  • Chick start and grow feed formula
  • Eggs
  • Yogurt or cottage cheese
  • Wheat berries or oatmeal
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Instructions

    • 1

      Isolate the sick chicks from the healthy ones and move them to a temporary brooder. Ensure that the chicks have an adequate heat source. If the chicks are piled on top of each other in the brooder then they were not getting enough heat. In addition to a lamp, place a heating pad on the bottom of the brooder, off to one side, for further warmth. Monitor the conditions to ensure they are not too hot. If they stay off of the heating pad, then they are warm enough.

    • 2

      Wipe away any mucus build-up from a chick's beak with warm water and a soft cloth.

    • 3

      Strengthen the chicks' immune systems by feeding them a high protein diet and ground meal. Use finely chopped hard-boiled eggs mixed with yogurt or cottage cheese to moistened wheat berries, oatmeal or chick starter formula.

    • 4

      Prevent further mucus production by adding two teaspoons of cider vinegar to a gallon of water. Dip their beaks into the water to ensure they are drinking. Leave the cider water as their only source for liquids for up to four days.

    • 5

      Check the chicks' beaks on day five to ensure all signs of mucus production has ceased. Wait another 2 days before returning chicks to their flock. Monitor their condition to confirm that all cold symptoms have ceased and their energy levels are back to normal. A happy peep-peep sound from the brooder box is a good indication that the healing process was a success.