Rhea chick help; syringe feeding

[Lewil25]

Edit: 6am and she is doing better! Enough energy to fight syringe feeding, but still not eating or drinking on her own. She is also having trouble standing, and it looks like her toes are curled. Will attach a picture, is this normal? I think I remember for many birds that curled is the relaxed state, but it seems to be impeding her ability to stand up?

Hello, I am new here and desperate, so I apologize if this isn't the correct place to post or if there is already a similar thread that I didn't find. Will update if needed.

I have a rhea chick who is crashing fast. I think she is no more than two weeks old (Maybe around a week or so?); I work at a small ranch and we have adult rheas but I don't believe they've raised any from hatchling. This particular chick is lethargic and seems super skinny. She is the only one left out of four; the others crashed one by one. I personally have not seen her eat at all, though I hadn't been around her all the time.

Anyway, I just need her to make it through the night until we can see the vet tomorrow morning. Have been trying to syringe feed but don't know if I'm doing it right, I go far back in the throat. I have pedialyte and a blend of the ratite pellet that I have alternating been trying to feed. Is there anything else I can try to give her?

Is there a point where I am trying to feed too much? Should I let her sleep? Every time I see her rest I get nervous that she won't wake up. Is there a point of stability where it would be okay to let her rest?

She had been up and walking around within the hour, but seems to only have energy in waves.

I apologize for the frantic post; I am not that experienced in ratites or any birds really but after we've lost the others I'm really trying to save this one!

Even if there is not time to save this one, I would appreciate any tips on what to do in this situation should this happen again in the future!

 

[briefvisit]

Welcome. You are in the right place, but must wait for more experienced players to post.

Dang, the following is naive; but here goes:

let the chick sleep if it wants to. Keep it warm. And if it has even a little bit of food and water in its belly, that should tide it over til you get it to the vet.

 

[Lewil25]

Welcome. You are in the right place, but must wait for more experienced players to post.

Dang, the following is naive; but here goes:

let the chick sleep if it wants to. Keep it warm. And if it has even a little bit of food and water in its belly, that should tide it over til you get it to the vet.

Thank you! That is what I have been doing, and it seems to be working. Fingers crossed the vet will be able to help, or at least figure out what's wrong.

 

[Lewil25]

Second update (I guess you can only edit something once?): vet currently has the chick. Hopefully she can work her magic, or at least figure out why we've lost them all.

Still would love to hear any suggestions on what I could do in the future if something like this were to happen again! Always good to be prepared. We have emus as well, though they are a couple months old now and seem to be relatively stable.