3 & 1/2 week old failure to thrive chick.

[thegoodlife1961]

Three & a half weeks ago I received my order of 27 chicks. All arrived strong & healthy. They have grown fast & most are feathering out well except for one Barred Rock chick. It is still about the size of a 10 day old chick, & is still all fluff except for some wing feathers. I have them on Purina Start & Grow ( 18 % protein ). Yesterday it started peeping loudly & it looked like it had labored breathing. ( beak closed though ) Today, it is not peeping loudly, but has not ate or drank very much & is sleeping much of the time. No scratching in the shavings like the others, but does have enough spunk to run when I try to catch it to check it out. I decided not to add stress by trying to catch it, instead just tried to look closely when its eyes were shut. No nasal discharge that I can see. No messy butt. Why has this chick failed to develop properly & what do you think could be wrong with it?

 

[drlcb]

I always have a couple that appear to be perfectly healthy and thriving suddenly die within the first couple weeks. As for the runts they have to thrive or they don't make it. Natural selection is at play, I just keep in mind that chickens are prey.
I've had some that develop pasty butt that were stopped up pretty good - once you clear the vent and they release they are ok.
I've never figured out the rhyme or reason that some just end up trampled on by their mates , chicks (and chickens) are ruthless.
There are so many things that can and do go wrong. I won't let a bird suffer. As far as dispatch, I place the chick in a grocery sack and crush it with a heavy brick. Not sure if is the most humane way to do it but it is instant.
I love my birds and I appreciate the gift they give us in food, enjoyment, and the sense of satisfaction I get in raising food as humanely as possible. Lastly, I am poor, so I would never even consider taking a chicken to a veterinarian.
Good luck- I generally end up with a ten percent attrition so if I start with fifty and get forty five in the freezer I am happy... Then once in a while you get a day when you check your incubator and find 60 premium eggs sitting at 150 degrees :-( that was the first time I cried over the dang chickens and they were just embryos...

 

[lbettenc]

I noticed in your post you said sometimes you just find some of your chicks dead. My mother hen hatched 9 chicks and they are about 8 weeks old now. I have had them separated from the rest of the chickens in a pen in the barn. I have fresh water, food and a heat lamp during night and early morning. The mom is with them. They all seemed healthy and active. But the past week I have found two chicks dead. They were just lying there in the pen but did not appear to have been attacked or trampled by the other chicks. Do you know what would have caused this? I thought maybe the first one had choked or something, but two? I have since moved them outside with the rest of the flock so they have more room to run & play.

 

[Mrwinchester]

why not try to feed it some wet food maybe the beak is causing it troubles?

 

[drlcb]

I have a coworker that told me his grandfather used to "contract" raise broilers for a meat company. He would get hundreds at a time and one of the daily duties was to walk through the brooding pens and pick up the dead ones. I've never heard of anyone not mysteriously losing a few here and there.
When I raise a run of Cornish x the attrition rate is generally 10% ( ill do 60 at a time) up until freezer camp. I don't mind losing a few chicks but once they hit 10 weeks the adults (5-7 lbs) will start dropping quick. I don't eat birds that drop dead but when you consider that a broiler to get to 6 pounds has roughly eaten 10 pounds of feed it starts costing too much considering that I have never saved any money raising my own. But then again I eat free range organic chicken 3-6 times a week. The eggs are amazing! It's worth it.
I suppose an autopsy by a knowledgable professional would tell what it is that results in an early death.

 

[thegoodlife1961]

Well, I checked & the beak is fine. Maybe its just a weakling? Anyway, its still living, eating & drinking some, but breathing heavier. I'll just see how it goes.

 

[chickiemama1972]

You shouldn't need a heat lamp AND a mom. That would be way too hot. Mom can regulate their body temperatures perfectly.