6-day-old chicks not gaining much weight

[azygous]

It's important to get at least half a teaspoon of the oil into the chick. Chill the oil so it's solid. Then pry open the beak and slip pea size bits of the oil into the right side of the beak, tucking it into the right side of the throat toward the back. It will then slip on down the chick's gullet.

The esophagus on a chicken is not in the center of the throat, but is located on the right side of the back of the throat. This is where you want to target anything you put into a chick's mouth so they don't choke.

Going by the chick's eyes, puffy rimmed and dull, she could be dehydrated in addition to constipated. If you have a small syringe, try to get some water down the chick. I've seen eyes like that on a sick chick. After the oil breaks up the constipation and the chick is hydrated, the eyes will again be wide and bright.

 

[Dandelyon]

I got some into her last night, maybe 1/4 tsp. I didn't force any water on her because she seems to be drinking on her own ok.

She weighed in at 38g this morning; better than yesterday. She also seems a little more peppy. I've seen some reasonable poop from her. Here she is with her face messy from eating:

 

[azygous]

Yay! Good work! I think your chick is now good to go. She is ready for you to give her a name.

 

[aart]

Why are you weighing her?

 

[paneubert]

Why are you weighing her?

Thanks for trying to help everyone. I know I'm a worrywart - it seems like I can find symptoms of every problem that I read about.

 

[Dandelyon]

Why are you weighing her?

Everything I've read about raising chickens says stuff like "if you catch problems early and act fast you'll have better outcomes". So that's what I'm trying to do.

Also, it's fun to track their growth (when they're growing), like how people raising young humans make marks of their height on a doorpost.

 

[Mrs. K]

Stop weighing them, in fact, stop handling them quite so much. Each time you handle them, that stresses them. Give them chick feed, and clean water, and nothing else. Give them a warmer spot and a colder spot in their area, and let them decide where to go. Chicks raised by mama's get cold, and go get warmed up.

You are stressing them with kindness, and it might be too much. From your pictures, they look fine. But they would do better with a little healthy neglect. Do NOT treat them for mites or lice or worms, they are too young. You can over medicate.

Just let them be more chick like, and a bit less pet like.

Mrs K

 

[casportpony]

Stop weighing them, in fact, stop handling them quite so much. Each time you handle them, that stresses them.

I'm gonna have to disagree with this. As one that tracks weight on peachicks, poults, some ducklings, and some chicks, I can say from experience that handling them for weighing does not stress them and it is an excellent way to monitor health and spot problems before they become life threatening.

 

[casportpony]

@Dandelyon
I used the bolded numbers to make a chart:

Age/time-of-day Orp Aus LegBar
3/afternoon 37 35 44
4/morning 38 36 40
4/evening 41 37 45
5/morning 41 37 42
6/morning 40 37 42
6/evening 42 42 46
7/morning 42 42 42
7/evening 43 45 41
8/morning 45 41 38
8/evening 47 49 42
9/morning 44 46 34*
9/evening 52 51 41

It's been my experience that some weight loss after hatch is normal and I think this is due to them processing their yolk, but I'm not 100% sure about that. If by day seven they are below their hatch weight I start to worry a little. Here is some weight data on a few of the peachicks I hatched last year:

 

[Mrs. K]

She is not just weighing them, she is adding strange food, she is trying to find mites and lice, looking for bare spots, and she is going to wear them out. The OP has read every imaginable problem in chicken raising and is convinced that she has at least one, and preferably multiple ills.

However, they are her chicks, and she can do what she wants to with them. I keep an eye on healthy by observing the chicks behavior. An active chick that is eating and drinking is healthy in my opinion. Some days they might eat more, some days less. However, I will admit that I have lost a few chicks from failure to thrive. However I think of that as more genetic, natural selection. I really don't want that kind of bird in my flock. I want strong healthy vigorous birds.

To each their own way of doing things. I think weighing twice a day is a stressor on the birds and really on herself. She is worrying herself sick over 3 chicks that look to me like they are doing just fine. If one of them dies, she is going to beat herself up and feel guilty about what in my opinion is out of her control.

But again, they are her birds, and if is how she wants to try it, that is the OP's decision. A lot of vigorous, healthy chicks have been raised on clean water, chick starter and some space with cooler and warmer temperatures.

Mrs K