6-day-old chicks not gaining much weight

[Dandelyon]

I have three chicks that are 6 days old today. I've been weighing them for a couple of days and they're not keeping up with what I've read they should. The Orpington and Australorp are about 42 grams, and the Legbar is 46. I think they're supposed to be close to 60g by now. They were 35, 37, and 40 three days ago.

I've been feeding them mostly chick starter feed (nonmedicated), with treats of dried mealworms, fresh oregano, and a little hard boiled egg (half a yolk on Monday, half a full egg today). I provide grit a few times a day. I put some immune boosting vitamin mix in their water the first few days, and then some corid starting yesterday as a preventative, though I kept it up today because of worry about the weight and their poops.

Their poops are soft and sometimes runny. This morning there were some orangish ones - didn't actually look like blood, but orangier than normal. Everything that came out today (and I observed it from each of them) was their normal greenish brown to brown.

They're all very active and eat a lot and drink a lot and I wouldn't have thought anything was wrong except I looked up weight charts.

Should I keep doing the corid in case it's coccidiosis? Or would it be better to switch back to the vitamins? (I think I read you shouldn't do both at once.) Is the soft poop normal (I think I read that can happen when you feed them fresh greens), or should I be worried about it?

Here's a picture of them from yesterday; it looks like their bodies aren't growing fast enough for their wings :/

 

[ChickNanny13]

What you read is information and just a guide. If they're eating, drinking & pooping, active & chirping ... Enjoy them. The orange poop is probably the freeze dried mealworms you're feeding them, how much are you feeding them? Hard boiled egg yolk is fine but let me clue you in on something ... Too much treats off sets the nutrition of their feed. I don't feed chicks treats, use freeze dried mealworms for training (getting them used to my hand & sound of the container to call them). Grit should be available in a separate dish, they will eat as they need.

I don't give Corid unless I suspect coccidiosis, and yes no vitamins during Corid treatment. I'm thinking the "soft" poop maybe their cecal that you're seeing. Pictures of their poop would help. Again too much treats may cause soft/runny poop regardless how healthy it is.

Their wings vs body looks right, it looks bigger cause it's feathering up. They look & sound healthy/normal to me. Put that chart away and enjoy them

 

[rosemarythyme]

I agree with ChickNanny13, they look good in the photos as far as I can tell. For now I'd cut out the treats, the Corid (if coccidiosis really is a concern of yours just feed medicated feed) and even the vitamins for now and just have them on their chick food, with grit on the side or maybe a little sprinkled on every other day or so. It's normal for healthy chicks to have some variance in their poops just as they'll vary in their growth rate.

 

[ChickNanny13]

2x the Medicated Starter ...

 

[Dandelyon]

Thanks so much for the advice. Here is a picture of some representative poop:

This shows some orange stuff and some soft greenish-brown stuff that a lot of their poop is like. A lot of it is also drier and darker brown and some of it looks like not totally digested feed.

I'm cutting back on the treats today (just two dried mealworms so far, nothing else). They continue to be active and eating/drinking.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Once you've cut out most of the treats see if the poops continue to look that way. I can see why it might look scary but it doesn't appear bloody so it might be a side effect of all the treats (if I feed blackberry, instant black poops for hours) or it could be some cecal mixed with regular poop. Chicken poop varies so wildly I've stopped trying to figure it all out, unless I see something really abnormal.

As long as they continue to be active and behave normally I wouldn't be too concerned.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Personally, I would stop ALL treats (mealworms included) for a week, it's the only way you're going to test this theory. At a week old, they're pretty young yet & their digestive system getting adjusted ... I don't start any treat until they're at least 3 - 4wks old and make they have access to Chick Grit.

 

[Dandelyon]

Ok, I haven't given them any more treats since those ones I mentioned Thursday morning. I'm not seeing any more greenish poop, though I am still seeing a little of the orangy poop. Overall their poop seems less soft too. However, I am noticing some watery poop, at least from the legbar.

The orpington and Australorp are slowly gaining weight but the legbar is losing weight. She was only 34g this morning. She's not as active anymore though she still eats and drinks a lot, and her chirps are very quiet (she used to be really loud).

I gave them vitamins in their water yesterday and made some mash out of their food and warm water, which they like.

 

[Dandelyon]

I went looking for external parasites and didn't see any bugs, but I notice she has awful bald patches under her wings. Sorry this picture isn't great.

It's hard to tell but n the photo but the patch of skin is completely bare. Could this be caused by something like mites? I checked one of the others and didn't see bald patches. The others are a lot harder to check because they struggle while this one just lets me do whatever

 

[MissChick@dee]

I too would suggest stopping with the treats. It’s like kids eating all the marshmallows out of the Lucky Charms cereal and leaving all the nutritional cereal behind. The Bald spots under the wings are natural..that’s one of the last places they develop feathers. Chicks will have Cecal poops IMHO more often from all the treats.