4 day old chicks not eating from feeder

[Teresa the chicken lady]

Hi everyone,
So this is my 3rd set of getting baby chicks, I got 3 of them from a hatchery that were shipped to my local feed store.......I brought them home at 2 days old and they drank pretty quickly, however I did not see them eat. I stayed up until 2 in the morning freaking out because they weren't eating. When I finally couldn't keep my eyes open I went to bed. The next morning I could tell they hadn't eaten from the feeder so I sprinkled some food on the bottom of the brooder where there were scratching and when I came back the food was gone. I took the lid off the feeder and put it in the middle of the brooder but they still won't eat from it they think its a hill to play on. They will only eat if I put the food on the bottom of the brooder. This has never happened to me am I doing something wrong?

 

[Finnie]

A lot of people start new chicks out by covering the shavings (or whatever substrate you’re using) with paper towel and sprinkling feed all over the paper towel. After a couple of days, remove the paper towel.

I have to assume this chick feeder is the same one you used for your previous chicks? So it’s not like you are expecting them to eat from something that they would be physically incapable of using. So, they will figure it out and be fine.

If you want, and it makes you feel better, you can wet the feed with some water, and serve it in a flat type of dish or tray. They’ll walk all over it and poop in it, but they will definitely get a jump start on eating. I’ve found chicks love wet food! I usually make it super sloppy wet, because as it sits, the feed will swell. Plus the chicks can drink the “broth” when you first set it down.

 

[Teresa the chicken lady]

Thanks for the advice I will try the paper towel.....lol will they eat the paper towel?

 

[EggSighted4Life]

This has never happened to me am I doing something wrong?

Some chicks really just aren't that smart.

I crush the feed extra into dust that's in the feeder and sprinkle it on the paper towel around the feeder with the lid off. I also have used wet mash as suggested, in a very small dish.. mixed result on the wet feed.. but it's actually more readily digested when wet though a little harder to maintain.

Picking it up and dropping it in front of them and running fingers through the feed.. use a high pitched voice a quickly say the phrase "look babe, look!" This is what mama hen does called tidbittiing and it works quite well fairly often.

If sprinkling the feed on the floor is what works to get them started and thriving then do it, SHORT term.

They might be eating such a small amount of feed in their king of the hill game that you just can;t see the difference???

At day 4 these babes would be one of two things if they were not connecting with food or failing to thrive.. either loud peeping mad from being hungry or too tired and lethargic to move fro lack of nutrients.. depending on if you have supplements in water or not.

 

[Teresa the chicken lady]

Thank you for your response......they seem pretty active. One I will say can defiantly chirp. But they are all digging, pecking things, drinking, and eating the food I put at the bottom. Im in NorCal and these ladies came from New Mexico so maybe they still stumped from their 2 day travel journey. They seem to be happy and healthy. They sleep alot but not lethargic. So ill just keep putting the food in the bottom and hope one day they will figure the feeder out lol.

 

[rosemarythyme]

When I got my current batch of chicks, they weren't eating either - dirt and shavings were more "tasty" to them. After a day I ended up sprinkling food on the brooder door (it flips down) and tapping it like a mama would do while picking food up, and the chicks were willing to eat it off the wooden door and door frame. So as I had a scrap piece of wood under their feeder, I ended up sprinkling food on that piece of wood, and the chicks followed the crumbles from the wood and then finally up into the feeder itself.