My Chicken Isn't Eating Enough

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A Bawkward Name

A Bawkward Name

In the Brooder
Apr 15, 2017
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So I have 1 chicken, i'm not sure how old, but I think it's 3 months old, and it's barely eating anything. The store I got it from gave me dried corn to feed it, and it won't eat it that much. The other chicens in the store will, but not my one. I also put some wet rice, and for the first day, it ate some. Later, it didn't eat it again. It's only my 3rd day having it, and the space I give it is enough for it (4 x 2 feet of space.) Today, I started to feed it bread, but it would eat 1 piece and then it won't eat it again. It will only eat about 10 pieces total of dried kernels each day, and then nothing. Today, I had to let my mom keep its feet together and force it to eat more. We fed it 50-80 grains of wet rice. And also, what time should it go to sleep? First, it sleeps 1 hour 2;00 - 3:00 PM, then it sleeps 5:00 PM - 8:30 AM. While typing this, I fed it some cheerios and fried rice, and it liked it a lot, but is it healthy? Also, its poop was brown, what it's supposed to be, but then it turned light-yellowish. Is there anything wrong? Please tell.
 
Sorry to hear this.
Your chicken is starving.
Why didn't your feed store sell you chicken feed rather than corn?
Corn is deficient in most of the nutrients that chickens need, especially protein.
 
I don't know why they would feed it just corn. Normally, the chickens are bought there for meat, but I just wanted to have it as a pet. They wouldn't feed it chicken food, or any other things, and they wouldn't clean the water for them. The one I got was alone in a cage and wouldn't eat anything there, too.
 
Ok. I'll try to order some online, and hopefully it eats it. It is also starting to eat more on its own. Thanks to both of you!
smile.png
 
You can google your zip code and feed stores to find which ones are near you. Some will sell 5 and 10 lb. bags of feed. At 3 months, it needs a good quality starter or grower feed.
If it has just been getting corn all this time, the deficiency of lysine, methionine, argenine, tryptophan, cystine and threonine will likely have caused retarded growth by 3 months of age.
Additionally, chickens are flock animals and need friends. They rarely thrive as a lone bird. You need to get at least one more.
 
Last edited:
Unfortunately, there are no chicken or pet stores food stores near for chickens, except for a PetSmart, but it's 3.5 miles away so my mom won't let me go there. I have to order everything online. Also, my parents won't let me get another chicken, but to me and my brother, the chicken seems to be okay and doesn't have any problems alone. I will be getting things for it like bedding, chicken food, and a heat lamp, but right now, the day I post this and the day after, my momsaid I can't buy anything for it. I'm using the warmest and comfiest things that it is comfortable in and won't eat, a scarf and cotton. So far, it's been alive from 4/11/17 - Present Day.



One question: Is there any reason why whenever I take it out of it's box, it always sits on my lap and starts to sleep? I'm not disturbed by that, and the chicken likes doing that alot.
 
I really don't want to break it to you, but it's probably slowly starving to death and that's why it's sitting so calmly. A healthy chicken is lively and active most of the time. Also a 3 month old chicken should not need any heat, their feathers should provide enough heat for them.
 

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