2-3 week old chick pooing blood...

[blakeee]

The grit sold in the grocery stores for parakeets is fine for new chicks.

Medicated feed may not have enough Corid to treat one already showing signs of cocci, or coccidiosis, but is good to feed the rest of the group, and to feed the one affected, after you treat it with Corid. After you treat the one affected, you might want to use a bit of a vitamin supplement in their water, like rooster booster, or poly visol without iron (which is for human children, and can be found at the pharmacy).

Great, thanks. I'll look into that. Another question.... Do I just put the grit in a bowl so they can grab it themselves or do I mix it with their food? If so, what ratio do I use? Also, will the worms and flies they eat outside give them heaps of nutrients?

 

[getaclue]

I usually make a small pile or two near their feed, and see that they all eat some. Usually they'll go right to it, investigate, and then eat it. They won't overeat it, and you only give it to them on occasion, not all the time. Chick starter will give them the balance of nutrients they need. While worms, and flies are protein, they need more than that, and a balance for optimum nutrition.

 

[Nekatlla]

That is likely coccidiosis.
They need Corid/Amprolium right away. It is a thiamine blocker that prevents the continuing life cycle of the protozoa coccidia.
Also, keeping the bedding bone dry helps. It won't help now that they have too much in their intestines but will help in the future.
They can get it from picking in the soil.

Timeline seems right, I dealt with this over the summer and the corrid does help in a hurry, now I keep some on hand.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I keep it on hand too even though I've only needed it once.
It doesn't expire for about 5 years after mfg. date.

 

[blakeee]

UPDATE:
Woke up this morning to find all three chicks running around eating and drinking fine. I just came back from town where I purchased shell grit and some cocci treatment. I have made up the treatment in their water and have given it to them. I dipped all their beaks in it to get them to drink some and they drank a little bit. They're all asleep now. Is it normal for chicks to sleep heaps or are they feeling ill?

 

[azygous]

After the first week, chicks don't sleep a lot during the day. At nearly three weeks, I wouldn't expect chicks to sleep during the day much at all. But then, behavior isn't something uniform that you can expect to be the same with all chicks.

If your chicks, when not napping, are very active, bright-eyed, eating well, and not standing around in one spot with eyes droopy, I doubt they're sick.

 

[blakeee]

I usually make a small pile or two near their feed, and see that they all eat some. Usually they'll go right to it, investigate, and then eat it. They won't overeat it, and you only give it to them on occasion, not all the time. Chick starter will give them the balance of nutrients they need. While worms, and flies are protein, they need more than that, and a balance for optimum nutrition.

I put a pile of shell grit next to their food and they don't seem interested in it at all. I'm going to leave it in there for an hour or two and then take it out.

 

[blakeee]

After the first week, chicks don't sleep a lot during the day. At nearly three weeks, I wouldn't expect chicks to sleep during the day much at all. But then, behavior isn't something uniform that you can expect to be the same with all chicks.

If your chicks, when not napping, are very active, bright-eyed, eating well, and not standing around in one spot with eyes droopy, I doubt they're sick.

They're very active when not napping. One of the chicks is only about a week and a bit old whereas the other two would be two and a bit weeks old I'd say.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

UPDATE:
Woke up this morning to find all three chicks running around eating and drinking fine. I just came back from town where I purchased shell grit and some cocci treatment. I have made up the treatment in their water and have given it to them. I dipped all their beaks in it to get them to drink some and they drank a little bit. They're all asleep now. Is it normal for chicks to sleep heaps or are they feeling ill?

I put a pile of shell grit next to their food and they don't seem interested in it at all. I'm going to leave it in there for an hour or two and then take it out.

That's because you got the wrong kind of grit.
Take it out.
People do call crushed oyster shell, shell grit. But that is a misnomer.
Grit and oyster shell are two different things for two different purposes.
Grit is insoluble stone. OS is soluble to add calcium to a laying hens diet.
Insoluble means it won't dissolve. Soluble means it dissolves in a moist environment, especially in this case, in the presence of stomach acid.
Oyster shell is for mature hens at laying age and can harm kidneys of young birds.
Grit is usually granite, flint or some other hard, sharp, insoluble stone that lodges in the gizzard to assist in grinding feed. It takes a long time for digestive juices to dissolve it.
OS on the other hand turns to mush when it hits the stomach acid of the proventriculus and then the gizzard. It serves no useful purpose as grit. It merely serves as a better source of calcium needs of birds actively building egg shells due to its large particle size.

I cringe when I hear feed store employees and others refer to OS as shell grit.
It is very misleading to those that don't know the difference and can lead to problems.

 

[blakeee]

That's because you got the wrong kind of grit.
Take it out.
People do call crushed oyster shell, shell grit. But that is a misnomer.
Grit and oyster shell are two different things for two different purposes.
Grit is insoluble stone. OS is soluble to add calcium to a laying hens diet.
Oyster shell is for mature hens at laying age and can harm kidneys of young birds.
Grit is usually granite, flint or some other hard, sharp, insoluble stone that lodges in the gizzard to assist in grinding feed. It takes a long time for digestive juices to dissolve it.
OS on the other hand turns to mush when it hits the proventriculus and gizzard. It serves no useful purpose as grit. It merely serves to supplement the calcium needs of birds actively building egg shells.

I cringe when I hear feed store employees and others refer to OS as shell grit. It is very misleading and can lead to problems.

But I can see little shells in it? That's all it is. Little shells.